The Beacon
by HopeLiterature
Summary: When a series of attacks occur in Amity Park, Danny and his friends fear that ghosts are becoming the least of their worries. Mayor Masters calls upon an outsider to get to the bottom of things, but it appears more than one enemy lurks in the haunted city. (Sequel: The Search)
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

Danny, Tucker, and Sam were out on their usual patrol. The Ghost-sightings were at an all-time high, and even the townspeople were becoming wary. Amity Park was well used to specters running loose. It had been a few years since this began, and everyone had adjusted accordingly. Danny Phantom was a town icon, and the Fenton family's inventions were trusted tools of protection. Tucker and Sam even received special suits made with said technology. They were more effective and efficient than ever, and this wave of activity was putting them to the test.

At school, life was the same. Even as seniors, they weren't popular. The bullying had slowed, now that Tucker and Danny had both received their growth spurts. They both stood over six feet, just as the jocks had, and the ghost fighting toned them up nicely.

But nothing prepared them for this.

Something was happening in Amity Park. Something entirely different than the town was used to.

The trio stood against the caution tape perimeter, staring at the gory scene before them. Someone had ransacked an entire row of lockers, leaving slashed metal doors hanging loose and strewn about the floor. Papers were being sorted in the mess, and police were photographing the scene. Blood was clinging to the metal edges and in drops on the linoleum floor. This certainly wasn't a Ghost.

"What could have done this?" Tucker whispered lowly, shock on his face.

"I've never seen anything like this before," Danny said. "There's no evidence of an ectoplasmic being here. Whatever did this was living."

"The officers are saying it may have been a wild animal," Sam said.

"What kind of wild animal would ransack lockers?" Danny asked.

"And just this section?" Tucker said. "Nobody even saw anything. This far back in the building, an animal would be seen by someone."

The Police department shut down the school for the rest of the day and organized search parties to find the animal responsible for the destruction of the lockers, according to the news. A curfew was issued for the next few days to assure the town's safety, according to the Mayor.

But the police found nothing, and an attack happened again. This time was worse.

The news headline made Danny stop in his tracks the next morning.

"A group of teens were found early this morning in Amity Park's own grounds, deceased. Local authorities say that this was most likely linked to the animal attack on the school property yesterday afternoon. Markings on the teens' bodies match those found on the locker doors, according to Forensic Labs. Police urge the people to remain indoors from the time of sundown to sunup."

Danny was glued to the screen. A ghost had never done something this gory before. They used objects to cause damage. Whatever this was had used its own limbs, its own claws and teeth. Danny shuddered.

He called Sam.

"Turn on the news right now," he said into the phone.

He heard the same headline that was in front of him through the earpiece, and Sam gasped.

"What _is_ that?" she panted.

"It's nothing like what we're used to," Danny said.

"Call Tucker," Sam said. "He needs to see this."

Danny hung up the phone. Instead, he flew to Tucker's house. His friend was where he always was: at his desk.

Danny landed and knocked on the window frame. Tucker turned around, "What's up?"

Danny grabbed the remote, "Take a look at this."

The news channel was still talking about the attack. A helicopter was showing a shot from above the park, where lumps under black covers were strewn about. Red tinged the grass in sweeping marks, and police were standing in groups or taking photographs.

"What happened?" Tucker gasped at the screen.

"They're saying another animal attack," Danny replied. "That seems to be all they can come up with."

"What animal would do _that_?" Tucker said, turning to Danny. "In all of the time here, have we ever once had an animal attack that wasn't ghost-related?"

"Never, as far as I know," Danny answered, crossing his arms over his chest. "Something isn't right. There's no ectoplasm or anything there. My ghost sense hasn't gone off for a ghost we didn't catch. An animal is the only thing that really fits the situation."

"I wonder what Masters has to say about all of this," Tucker pondered aloud.

"He issued the curfew, but other than that, he isn't offering up anything concrete," Danny said.

"Not to the press," Tucker said. "He always seems to have some sort of agenda. But I haven't known him to be a killer."

Danny thought about that for a minute. "I guess we will have to pay the old fruit loop a visit."


	2. The Beast

**Chapter Two**

Danny, Tucker and Sam in tow, made his way to Master's mansion at the edge of town. The night air was chilly, and the silence around them made Sam's skin prickle.

Something ran past them, making Danny stop. Sam and Tucker landed behind him, the low whirring of their boots shutting down after flight.

Danny held up a hand to keep them quiet, and listened.

A low rumble could be heard in the distance. The smell was rancid, and a dragging sound was not far away. Danny heard the rustling of brush close by, and strained his ears to locate the noise.

Sam's heart was beating fast, and she swore it was echoing into the night. She could smell something rancid in the air, and wrinkled her nose.

Tucker was looking around, panicked. Whatever was out there was close. _Very_ close. Every bit of survival instinct within him was screaming to run, but fear kept him rooted where he stood. The rustling sound drew nearer, and his heartbeat quickened.

A thud sounded beside them, making all three shout and jump back. Something had fallen from the tree, and it sounded quite sizable. Tucker leaned in close to see what it was in the darkness. It was long. A branch perhaps? He touched it, feeling softness that couldn't possibly be bark.

 _A body._

Tucker screamed, scaring his two friends. They began trying to get Tucker to stop yelling, but he kept screaming, making them yell louder to be heard over him. Their screams attracted whatever animal was out there, and growls rose up in the dark cover of the trees.

Danny took off, tugging on Sam's hand. Tucker booked it in the opposite direction of the growling; completely forgetting he was able to fly faster.

The creature was tearing through the foliage behind them, drawing nearer and nearer to them. Tucker was in the back, running as fast as his legs would carry him. He felt the brushing of branches against his back as the beast knocked over smaller trees and kicked up plants.

A fallen tree in the dark path disrupted Tucker's footsteps, causing him to stumble. Fear made him shaky, and he lost his footing.

The beast charged him, only a black mass in the dim light under the trees. It snarled and stank, standing as tall as a semi-truck. Trees cracked and branches snapped as it ran by, drawing nearer and nearer to Tucker.

A loud blast sounded in the night, and the beast roared. It turned around and charged the source of the blast. Tucker felt drips on his legs as he lie paralytic with fear.

Danny pulled him up by the collar and made a beeline through the trees. The scuffle could be heard from behind them, loud thuds and crashes as the beast tore its way through the forest.

They flew up over the trees and into the dim light of the moon. Tucker had caught his breath and looked down at himself to check for injuries.

He saw blood.

Blood splatter was all over his boots and pants. His heart rate increased again and he grasped for words. All that came out were yells.

Danny set him down and looked at him, panicked that his friend was injured. Tucker was on his feet, still screaming, but hopping around in his irrational state.

"Tucker!" Sam yelled. "Stop it!"

He stopped hopping and screaming, but his panic remained. He touched his legs, trying to stop the bleeding, wherever it was coming from. He found no wounds.

"I…it's not mine," he realized. "It's not my blood!" Relief swallowed him in a rush, and he began laughing hysterically.

Sam looked annoyed, and Danny crossed his arms, unsure what to do.

When Tucker finished his laughing, he looked at his friends. "Wait."

Sam's brows were low in irritation.

"If it wasn't mine," Tucker pieced together, "who's was it?"

"There was a gunshot," Sam said. "Maybe someone shot the animal."

"But who?" Danny asked. "We were the only ones there."

"Well, us and that corpse," Tucker recalled, paling. "A corpse fell out of the tree."

"If you can't keep your cool, then don't talk," Sam snapped.

"We have to get to Vlad. If he is behind this, we have to stop it. If not, maybe he has some information that the public doesn't." Danny's voice was stern and urgency flooded his face.

"What about the corpse?" Tucker asked. "We can't just leave it there!"

"We can't just go back in and get it either!" Sam reasoned. "We don't know what that was! If we just go back in blind, that could be us!"

"Let's just get to Vlad's," Danny said over their bickering. "It's not any safer out here in the dark than it is in there." He gestured back to the trees.

"Fine," Tucker sighed. "On to Fruit Loop's."

…

When they arrived to Vlad's mansion on the edge of town, they saw a vehicle parked in front. It wasn't nearly as flashy as something Vlad would be seen in. It was old and caked with mud that flung up from the rough tires. It looked to be a Blazer. Nobody in town drove one. This belonged to an outsider.

Sam noticed it too. She looked at Danny with the same question he was thinking written on her face: who's here? The only time Vlad had visitors, he had an agenda.

Danny found an open window and flew through. He looked around the spacious living area. There were no lights on, but there was a fire roaring in the fireplace. Vlad was standing before it, his hands behind his back and casting a long shadow across the room. Danny landed behind him and crossed his arms over his chest. Sam and Tucker landed on either side of him.

"Ah, Daniel," Vlad cooed, still facing the fireplace. "I figured you would stop by sooner or later."

"What's going on in town, Vlad," Danny wasn't in any mood to quip.

Vlad turned, confident, "What makes you think I know?"

Danny rushed forward, only inches from Vlad, looking down his nose, "You always seem to be involved when bad things happen here."

"I'm offended that you think I would take part in such horrible activities," Vlad put a hand over his chest dramatically. "I'm a public figure."

Danny had his hands at Vlad's throat, eyes blazing. If this fraud of a mayor didn't talk soon, Danny would throw him into the trees and let the beast deal with him.

Something cool was shoved against the back of Danny's head. He froze.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," a coarse voice hissed. Danny heard a sharp click from the cold object, and his heart stopped cold for a brief moment. Masters looked at Danny wickedly, taking satisfaction as Danny removed his hands from the mayor's throat. He put them up on either side of him, slowly.

"I may usually be the villain, Daniel," Vlad said. "But this time, I'm innocent. The wonderful contraption on the back of your thick skull is my solution."

Danny glared at him. The cold object pressed harder.


	3. The Hunter

**Chapter Three**

Danny obeyed the push and got down on his knees.

"This creature a friend of yours, Masters?" the hoarse voice asked.

"Not exactly," Vlad said. "But he isn't an enemy, per se." He gestured calmly and the cold object was removed.

Danny whirled around to look. Tucker and Sam were wide-eyed but silent. A figure passed them.

It was a woman. She looked to be close to their age, but she was frightening. Her leather jacket was torn, and she stripped it off stiffly, exposing ruined tattoos on her arms. Her white tank top that was beneath it was bloodstained and torn. Gashes coated  
her arms and torso, catching the light as she tucked a rather large pistol in the back of her jeans. Loose black curls fell to the middle of her back.

"Children, this is Hadley Reyes," Vlad introduced. "She's the hired gun solution to our little beast problem."

Hadley turned around to acknowledge her introduction. The three teens gasped lightly at her face.

She had fair bone structure and cold, steely blue eyes. But the most shocking thing about her was the collection of scars. She had three raised marks starting at her hairline beside her eye and running jaggedly at an angle across her cheekbone, stopping  
at her jaw. A cut was scabbing over across her nose, and her bottom lip was reddened, coming down from swelling.

"Close your damned mouths," she snapped.

Danny heard the clap of Sam and Tucker's teeth hitting as they obeyed, embarrassed. But he couldn't move his eyes. It was unlike anything he'd ever seen. These looked painful. He couldn't imagine what did it.

Hadley met his eyes, agitated. "What the fuck are you looking at, ghost?"

Danny dropped his eyes immediately.

"Masters, I could really use a first aid kit," Hadley turned to him tiredly.

"Certainly," Vlad left to retrieve one.

Sam's voice was low and careful as she spoke, "What happened to you?"

Danny waited for a snap or to hear a gun pulled out.

"You were the three dumbasses out in the woods back there," her coarse voice was an octave higher with realization.

Tucker blushed, but Sam nodded. Danny dared to glance at Hadley.

"Did you think your fancy outfits would save you? You're lucky I was there. That thing would've torn you to pieces and eaten your intestines," she snapped, flopping onto a stool.

Tucker turned green.

"I should thank you then," Danny said.

Hadley turned her cold eyes to him. "No. You should've been smarter."

"We aren't just some dumb kids that you can talk down to," Danny stood, looking down at her.

"Then what are you?" she snapped. "A hero squad?"

Danny looked mad. Sam and Tucker took a step back.

"We've been protecting this city for nearly four years," Danny fired back.

"Four years?" Hadley asked uninterestedly. "Good for you." It was completely sarcastic, and Danny knew it.

"What is it you're here for, exactly?" he snapped. "Are you a motivational speaker?"

Hadley stood up and looked him in the eye, only about four inches shorter. "I'm the one the mayor called to kill the abomination that nearly got your shrieking friend over there."

Tucker frowned, and Sam bit back a smile.

"Do you even know what it was?" she was gaining ground. "The beast that made you all scream like little kids?"

Danny remained silent, fuming.

Hadley laughed coarsely. "I didn't think so."

She sat as Vlad returned, accepting the first aid kit.

Danny watched angrily as she cleaned a gash in her side and began to stitch it up.

"Miss Reyes is quite experienced in this sort of thing. Apparently it isn't entirely uncommon," Vlad said.

"What exactly is it that 'this sort of thing' is?" Sam asked.

Hadley cursed under her breath, breaking the thread she was stitching with and patching the gruesome wound.

"Amity Park is known for its Ghost activity," Hadley answered. "That type of energy attracts other things."

"What other things?" Danny asked.

"Other supernatural creatures," she pulled her shirt back down. "This place is a beacon for that kind of activity."

"What does that mean for Amity Park?" Sam asked.

Hadley grunted as she got back up to close the first aid kit. "It means you people better start to learn how to kill things and be okay with it."

"Kill things?" Danny asked. "Why?"

Hadley cut her eyes to him coldly, "Some things don't stay in a little play pen like your ghosts. These creatures are bloodthirsty. Your only defense is to shoot the fuckers dead."

Danny frowned, "It's not a play pen. It's an alternate dimension from which they originate."

"One that you dumbfucks connected to ours," Hadley swore. "As if there wasn't enough out there already, let's throw in a couple hundred ghosts. Fucking brilliant."

"Why do we even need you?" Danny spat. "We can handle supernatural."

"The news this morning said otherwise," Hadley smirked.

Danny fumed.

"Wait a minute," Hadley said, recognition crossing her mutilated face. "You're that Phantom kid."

"Danny Phantom," he hissed, eyes glowing.

"Amity Park's own little hero," Hadley said dramatically. She leaned into his face, "Nice to have met you."

She turned, grabbed her coat, and walked out of the room. Her heavy boots made her footsteps heard until she exited the mansion.

Danny looked at Vlad.

"She's something, isn't she?" he chuckled to himself.

"She's a bitch." Danny's words bit into the warm room with their iciness.

"She's a hunter, Daniel," Vlad said. "A trained killer. And a woman. You don't survive in that line of work by being polite."

"I think she's awesome," Sam said.

Tucker didn't say a word.

Danny leaned into Vlad's arrogant face, "You didn't need to hire a stranger. It's just some animal. The three of us can take care of it."

"My, my," Vlad responded. "Did Miss Reyes dent that little ego of yours, hmm?"

Danny's frown deepened. He turned around and flew out of the same window he entered earlier.

Hadley's Blazer was already down the street, but Danny caught up easily. He followed her to a little shack of a house in the middle of the forest. He landed, keeping silent and invisible.

She pulled two worn duffle bags from the truck and hauled them inside. Danny phased through the wall, but she was nowhere to be seen in the dark front room. He looked around, listening. Still invisible, he stepped further into the room. He didn't see  
or hear anything.

He looked at the bags thrown on the makeshift bed. One was open, exposing various firearms, knives, and bottles of chemicals he couldn't identify.

Suddenly, he felt a poke on his back.

"Show yourself," Hadley's rough voice spoke lowly.

Danny became visible, his hands in the air.

"How'd you know I was here?" he asked.

"It's my job to know when things are near," was all she said. "Why'd you follow me?"

"I don't trust you," he said, still facing the wall.

Hadley lowered the knife, "I didn't figure you would. Someone coming in to show you up at your own job? That never sits well with me either."

"That's not what I mean," Danny snapped, turning to face her cold eyes. "I don't trust you because you work for Masters."

"I got the vibe that you two didn't get along," Hadley remarked.

"He's an evil creep with a thing for my mom," Danny muttered.

"He has a thing for your mom?" Her tone questioned why this was relevant to her rather than the weirdness of it.

"That's not the point," Danny shook his head. "The point is that he's a bad guy. He's not who he says he is."

"And you are?" Hadley's steely eyes met his directly, without vulnerability.

Danny eyed her, unsure how to respond.

"I'm not an idiot," she said. "I knew he was a ghost when he found me."

"How?" he asked.

"Same way I know you're human," she responded. "I've been doing this for so long, you could say I have a sixth sense for sniffing out the supernatural."

"What's out there right now?" Danny asked. "What's killing people?"

Hadley flashed a bright white smile, "You haven't guessed?"

Danny just kept his eyes on her.

"The bodies were slashed open by claws, as were the lockers. An ordinary animal wouldn't have gotten into the school that far without being noticed. It selectively ransacked a specific row of lockers, the bodies in the park were strewn about haphazardly…"  
Hadley gave him clues, but he didn't look very convinced. She gestured out the window.

Danny looked where she had motioned with her head. There was a bright white circle in the night sky. A full moon.

"Werewolf."


	4. It's Happened Before

**Chapter Four**

Danny woke up the next morning to find that there had been another attack that night. The news was having a field day broadcasting things other than ghost attacks and traffic reports.

"A student from Amity Park's own Casper High School was attacked last night. Local Police say the teen was walking his dog in his own backyard when the animal attacked. The victim is in critical condition, and kept sedated due to psychotic episodes when conscious. Police have no new leads on the animal's location or species…"

Danny was furious. Hadley had gone back out hunting for it last night after he left. It shouldn't be running around if she was as good as she claimed to be. Now someone had been attacked in their own backyard.

He flew out immediately to see her. This couldn't keep happening. This beast needed to be caught.

When he flew in, she was asleep in the makeshift bed. This only irritated Danny more.

When he stepped forward, her hand popped out from under her pillow, pointing a large handgun at him.

"Take another step and I'll ruin that fancy suit of yours," her sleepy voice broke through the silence of the secluded shack.

"I thought you went back out after it last night," Danny fumed as she sat up. "You didn't get it."

"First of all, I did," she put the gun down and stretched. "Second of all, fuck you and your accusations."

"Did you happen to see the news this morning?" he hissed.

"No, Danny. I didn't see the news. Do you see a television in this hellhole?" Hadley stood, throwing the blanket off. Danny couldn't look away.

She was wearing only a sport bra and jeans, and her torso was patched in a few places. Her back was covered in dark ink that Danny couldn't define, and scars were faintly visible beneath it, offsetting the linework.

"Another person was attacked last night," Danny said coldly, pulling himself back into focus.

"Yeah?" she replied uninterestedly, digging through her bag.

"He's in the hospital," Danny spat.

Hadley turned, "He's alive?"

Danny nodded.

"Son of a _bitch_!" she slammed her hand on the table.

"Are you upset that it didn't mutilate someone again?" Danny was disgusted.

Hadley met his eyes. "Yes, I'm upset," her voice was sharp.

"It's not a good thing that he survived?" Danny was getting confused. Wasn't the fact that this thing was a killer the main reason it had to die?

"No, dumbass," Hadley snapped. "Werewolves don't leave victims alive on accident! Do you know what they do if they don't kill you?!"

Danny just looked at her.

"It's recruiting," she hissed.

Danny's brows raised, "Son of a bitch."

…

"Hurry up, Tucker," Sam said irritably. "Danny will be here soon."

"I'm going as fast as I can," he replied, typing and scrolling.

They wanted to know more about the mysterious hired gun Masters had called in. She didn't seem like the type to share, so they did a little internet-digging.

"I've got something," Tucker said.

Sam rushed over to look at the screen.

It was a fifteen-year-old headline from a state on the west coast. A series of animal attacks were plaguing a small fishing town, and the article had a picture of a little girl in one of the columns.

"The Reyes family Bait Shop was ransacked by an unidentified wild animal on the night of October 26th. All members of the Reyes family were present in the shop when the attack happened. Parts of the bodies were found scattered in the woods nearby, and a gruesome scene deemed the incident too horrific for photographic news," Tucker read aloud.

"All but one member of the Reyes family were found mutilated. Six-year-old Hadley Reyes barely survived the attack, and was taken to the nearest hospital to treat her injuries," Sam finished.

"Six years old," Tucker breathed. "She was just a kid."

"No wonder she's so angry now," Sam said, standing up. "But what is that thing out there? This has obviously happened before."

"There's hundreds of cases like this in the past two decades," Tucker said, scrolling through the links. "All over the world."

"Do any of them describe the animal?" Sam asked.

"Nothing beyond what we already know," Tucker replied.

"If we only knew what it was—"

"Werewolf," Danny interrupted Sam, stepping in through the window. "Hadley says it's a werewolf."

"Seriously?" Sam said.

"That's a little far-fetched, isn't it?" Tucker doubted.

"Some people might say the same about ghosts," Danny replied. "I don't trust her on much, but she didn't seem like she was lying about this."

"She isn't," Sam said. "She knows about this sort of thing."

Danny looked at her and she gestured to the screen. Tucker had pulled the article back up and sat back as Danny read it. His brows started out pinched together, but slowly raised as he read the article.

"It left her alive," Danny said to himself.

 _Hadley said werewolves don't leave victims alive on accident._


	5. You Aren't Who You Say You Are

**Chapter Five**

Hadley was out that evening, sneaking around the shadows, on the trail of a fellow hunter. The great thing about hunting predators was that they only covered up their trail to their prey. Predators were cocky. They never worried about something hunting _them._

She felt a tingle in her spine, notifying her of a spectral being close by. She froze, listening. It was either the Phantom guy or the creepy Mayor. The other ghosts were far less conscious of being quiet around this town.

She spotted a head of tousled white hair off to her left and lowered her brows in annoyance.

Danny had seen her before he landed, but lost her when he sank into the bushes. He knew if she was crouched like she was that she was looking for something. He didn't really want to find it first.

A hand fell on his shoulder roughly making him jump and gasp. Another hand snapped over his mouth and he turned, emerald eyes meeting steely blue ones.

"What the hell are you doing out here?" she hissed.

Danny pulled her surprisingly small hand from his lips, "Making sure you're doing what you're being paid to do."

Hadley's glare almost burned. "What the fuck else would I be doing out here? Knitting a goddamn scarf?"

Danny frowned, "Last time you went hunting, there was still an attack."

"Two," Hadley snapped. "If you didn't notice with your blatant fucking staring, it got me too."

"Is that the second time you were left alive?" Danny retorted before he could stop himself.

She glared, her eyes almost luminescent with irritation, "It didn't bite me, you tool."

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"The bite is what turns a human. The claws just hurt like hell," she informed. After a pause, she looked up at him. "What did you mean 'second time'?"

Danny's eyes widened with panic. How do you tell a trained killer you researched their past? Especially one that already hated your guts.

Hadley's stare didn't waiver as Danny fumbled for an excuse.

"The scar," he scrambled. "It… it was a guess."

Hadley cocked a pistol and flattened him against a tree, "You lying sack of shit."

"Alright!" he yelled, a mixture of fear and anger stirring in him. "Tucker and Sam found an article online about you and the attack that killed your family. It said you were the only one left alive."

Hadley pulled the gun from his chest, tucking it in the back of her jeans. Her eyes still burned, but she wore a mask of calm. "That's none of your fucking business."

She turned and started walking through the trees, leaving him there alone. Her temper flared, burning under her skin.

Danny caught up with her easily, his legs longer and more muscular. She felt his eyes on her.

"Did it bite you?" he asked.

Hadley glared. "Drop it, or I'll drop you."

Danny acted as if he didn't hear her, his own distrust winning out over his fear. "That would mean that you aren't what you say you are, either."

Hadley's nails dug into her palms. Danny saw he was getting under her skin. "After the hell you gave me about it, I just think it's so _funny_ that you aren't either."

Hadley whirled around and threw her fist straight at him, connecting solidly with the side of his face. He had to admit that it hurt, more than if Dash hit him, but he didn't go down. He turned back to her, eyes glowing.

"Did I strike a nerve, there?" he asked sarcastically, touching his jaw.

"I said drop it," she hissed, turning back around.

"Why so sensitive?" he kept picking at her. It brought him some sort of joy to annoy her, and helped him to push through his fear of what she could do. "I didn't peg you for the sentimental type."

She didn't turn around to look at him, but he could hear that she grit her teeth together when she spoke. "As soon as we find this thing, I'm using your tongue as bait."

"You don't want me to buy you dinner first?" he quipped, feeling like a comic genius.

She inhaled and started to say something when a large mass barreled out of the brush. It charged them before Danny's wide eyes. Hadley crouched in front of him and sprang. She collided with its fur-covered abdomen, throwing it off course enough for Danny to get out of the way.

It rolled on its back and righted itself quickly, snarling loudly. Hadley had righted herself as well, and was staring the beast in its glowing orange eyes.

"Hello, handsome," she growled back at it.

Danny watched, both fascinated and horrified, as they circled each other. Hadley's worn leather boots barely made noise on the mossy ground, but the beast's large paws thudded heavily, sending waves from impact outward.

Hadley charged first, a sick smile on her face. The beast acted as soon as she moved. She pulled a small knife from a secret holster and jumped, stabbing it into the beast's shoulder. It swung around, swiping at her. She used the momentum to swing herself around to its back, stabbing another knife into the other shoulder.

The injuries prevented the beast from raising its arms back to Hadley, so it thrashed. Hadley gripped the handles for dear life, a wicked grin still visible in the dim light. She gripped its ribs with her knees, and pulled a long knife from her boot.

The beast backed up to a tree, slamming Hadley against it. She dropped the long blade, and Danny knew the wind was knocked out of her. She held on limply as it thrashed. It threw its head down, the momentum dislodging Hadley's hold on the knives. She landed on her back with a thud and a gasp as the air returned.

The beast circled her as she got up, snarling angrily. It was standing tall now, threatening her. She had her arms out as it roared at her, her mouth resembling a vicious grin.

"Here, boy," she hissed lowly.

The beast roared and charged, dropping to all fours and digging in the earth to propel its massive body forward. Hadley leaped at the last moment, pushing off its back with her hand as she flipped over it and landed behind it on her feet. She snatched up the knife as it turned and charged again, tearing through the trees with eight-inch claws.

Hadley ran at an angle, kicking off of a stump and grabbing onto the knife again. The beast caught her side with its claw, tearing through her black t-shirt as she swung up. She let out a yell of pain and stabbed the knife into the beast too soon. She missed her mark.

The blade was in the side of the beast's fur-covered neck instead of the back of it, but it gave Hadley a minute to grab for the loaded gun in the back of her jeans.

She pressed the sizeable firearm to the back of the beast's head and fired three times. The bullets went straight through it, ruining its eye and parts of its snout, and landing in the dirt.

The beast dropped to its knees and fell face down with a heavy thud. Hadley released the handle of the knife and sat up on her knees, blowing on the gun before tucking it in her belt on her hip. She pulled the long knife free of the corpse with a heave, placing her boot on it for leverage. It made a disgusting squirting sound as she pulled it out. She retrieved the two smaller knives easily.

"That was easy," she panted breathlessly.

She was panting and bruised as she walked over to the stoic Danny.

"You're hauling that thing back," she patted his shoulder roughly, sighing heavily as she passed.

She bent down and fished the three bullets from the dirt. Silver wasn't cheap, and she was lucky the bullets had exited the body this time.

"Uh," Danny managed, making Hadley turn.

The beast was shrinking. Hadley let out a pissed off groan. This wasn't the one she was after.

The beast's features cracked and jerked grotesquely. The skin shriveled up and fell away in some spots. Danny watched in horror as Hadley pulled a piece of skin from the face of the corpse.

There was a human boy beneath it.

"Fuck," Hadley threw the bit of flesh down. "This isn't the right one."

"What?" Danny snapped from his horrified trance. "What do you mean?"

"This is the one my target attacked. I thought it was too easy, this is why. Tomorrow on the news, you'll see that he escaped during a psychotic episode that their tranquilizers at the hospital couldn't subdue." She was pacing now, cleaning the blood and hair from the knives with a tissue.

"If this isn't the other one," Danny's voice was barely above a whisper.

"Then it's still out there," Hadley finished, turning to him. "And there's nothing stopping it from recruiting more humans."


	6. Celebrate

**Chapter Six**

Danny met Sam and Tucker at Sam's house the next morning. He told them what had happened the night before.

Tucker looked a little green, and Sam looked pensive as Danny described how he had to drag the body from the woods.

"I'm going to have to stop you right there," Tucker interrupted. "Unless you want to review what I ate for breakfast."

Sam rolled her eyes, "The news said there were more attacks early this morning. Five men working in the shipyards were attacked and sent to the hospital."

" _Five?_ " Danny asked. "Great, now it's going to be even harder to find the one who's doing this."

"There's more," Tucker said. "Your little dragging session last night caught the press's attention. They seem to think there's a serial killer out there too. I believed them until your heavily-detailed story graced my ears."

"Well," Sam said, "they aren't completely wrong about Hadley."

"She's not a serial killer," Danny defended. "She's murderous, but she's not killing humans."

"Since when are you on her side," Tucker mocked. "You couldn't stand her when she first got here."

"Let's just say I've seen what she can do and it sort of gave me an understanding," Danny replied.

…

Hadley and Danny went out hunting again that night. They had witnessed the five victims of the last attack break out of the hospital after the sun went down, and, unfortunately, so did everyone else.

The beasts shifted as soon as the fading moonlight touched their skin. Their bodies contorted unnaturally, bones snapping and reforming as they wailed in pain. Muscles tore and flesh ripped, exposing coarse hair of different colors. Glowing yellow eyes darted around in the darkness, searching.

"Follow them," Hadley instructed. "They'll lead us to the Alpha."

"What then?" Danny asked.

"Kill it," she responded coolly. "If the Alpha falls, the infection can't keep hold or spread. It's the only way to save the victims."

Danny floated behind her as she stalked through the bushes, seemingly at random.

"How do you know where you're going?" Danny said.

Hadley pointed to claw marks on the trees. "There's evidence everywhere. The smell is the most obvious."

"The smell?" Danny inhaled deeply, but only the scent of trees and damp moss filled his senses. Hadley's soap was faint in his nose, and his cologne was already noticed. "I don't smell anything."

"You really don't smell that?" she looked at him skeptically.

Danny shrugged and shook his head. "Nothing."

Hadley sniffed around more, finding things that were particularly pungent. A tree up ahead reeked of werewolf. The scent of wet dog and rotting flesh sank from its bark, heavy with the stench. She pointed to it, "Even here?"

Danny sniffed. "Smells a little stinky, but not enough to follow a trail."

Hadley furrowed her brows, turning to follow the scent once more. "The Alpha is more wolf than man, so it carries a stronger scent than the betas."

Danny floated right behind her back as she took in the stench. Why could she smell it but he couldn't? His senses were better than any ordinary human's. Was she just accustomed to seeking things out by stench?

"Danny," Hadley whispered.

"What?" Danny landed just behind her, peering over her shoulder to look out into the darkness.

"Personal space," she replied. "Your proximity is giving me goosebumps."

"Oh," he stepped back, her scent fading from his nose. "Sorry."

They walked a little further into the cover of the trees. The moonlight barely poked through, and Danny's eyes cast a green glow in the darkness. He wasn't sure how Hadley could see. It was difficult for him to.

He watched her walk through the brush. Her feet avoided fallen branches and surfaced roots expertly, and she made little to no noise. Danny floated behind her, watching the glint of the large handgun tucked in her jeans' waistband. The belt she wore held replacement clips and a machete. Smaller knives were sheathed in the leather straps on her boots. Her hair was in a single braid down her back, and bangs fell over her forehead messily. Though the night was chilly, she wore only a t-shirt.

Danny caught himself looking Hadley up and down as she walked through the brush and he blushed. To be perfectly fair, Hadley wasn't unattractive. Though she certainly wasn't a model, she was definitely feminine enough for Danny to risk a glance or two.

Hadley felt his eyes on her. Though, she wasn't sure if he was watching her for a sign of the Alpha or for another reason. It tore at her focus.

"We're getting close," she said, trying to make him look anywhere but at her. "Get low and stay quiet."

Danny obeyed, sinking into the brush behind her. They pushed through the twigs and brush for another moment or two before Danny got an idea.

"Hadley?" he whispered.

"What," she hissed, irritated that he wasn't being silent.

"Let me try something," he said.

She looked at him with eyes so blue they almost appeared to glow. He snaked an arm around her waist and turned them both invisible, floating up over the noisy brush.

Hadley patted his shoulder in approval. She wriggled around, confusing Danny. He released his grip and she swung around to his back.

Knowing neither of them could see each other, Hadley grabbed his arm and held it out before him, signaling to go forward.

Danny obeyed, floating slowly ahead. He tucked his hands under Hadley's thighs to hold her up and she leaned forward, wrapping her arms around his shoulders. He tried to focus as he felt her cheek brush momentarily against his ear.

Her nails dug into his shoulders suddenly, making him stop.

He turned his head to her, but kept his eyes darting. Hadley grabbed his jaw in one hand and turned his head forward.

A pair of vibrant yellow eyes was searching in the darkness, having sensed them somehow.

Danny's breath quickened and Hadley snaked a hand up over his lips. Her other hand left his shoulder for a moment, then he felt her arm rest over his shoulder.

A blast fired in front of them, and the beast fell.

Hadley dropped from Danny and rushed toward it. She buried three more bullets in the beast's skull, and Danny's stomach dropped as he heard a low rumble within it.

Hadley pulled a flask from her belt and shook the contents over the body. Danny smelled the lighter fluid.

"Step back," she said as she lit a cluster of matches.

Danny obeyed, keeping his eyes on the flame as it was flicked from her small hand. It touched the matted fur and spread, wafting up into the darkness and illuminating the landscape.

Hadley tackled Danny down as the beast rose, roaring in agony. It was mummifying right before his eyes, and the flames were consuming the remaining petrified flesh.

The smell of burning hair and rotting flesh rose into the air. Fear choked the bile back in Danny's throat, and he couldn't look away. Hadley's head was tucked into Danny's chest, shielding her eyes from the light.

The fire blazed out quickly, leaving behind a pile of brittle bone and ash, along with four silver bullets.

Hadley turned out from Danny's chest, looking at the remaining embers.

"All in a night's work," she said to him, a small smile of satisfaction on her face.

His emerald eyes met hers, "That's it?"

She gave a little laugh, "If it weren't for your help, taking that thing down would've been a _lot_ harder. Alphas put up a fuckin' fight."

"Me? What did I do?" Danny was having trouble thinking, Hadley was still close, those cold blue eyes blazing.

"If it wasn't for your invisibility trick, I wouldn't have gotten a clean shot. I would've had to fight it like I did the beta," she smiled. "You're not half bad for a Ghost Kid."

Danny smiled involuntarily, "You're not half bad for a homicidal maniac."

"You flatter me," she laughed as she got up. "Guess all that's left is to report to Masters then get the fuck outta here."

Danny stood, his smile falling, "You're leaving?"

Hadley blew the ash off of one of the bullets, "Well, yeah. The job's done. Now that the Alpha's dead, the victims will eventually go back to their human selves, and the killings will stop. You know what to do if it ever happens again, and I have other jobs to do."

"How do you know it was only one Alpha?" Danny searched for excuses. "What if there was more than one?"

"Alphas are territorial. You would've _known_ if there were multiple alphas in one area," she pocketed the warped bullets and turned to him. "How 'bout a lift back?"

Danny closed his mouth and walked over. He turned around and waited for her to jump up.

"I still think you should stay for a day or two, just to make sure," he said. "At least to teach me and Tucker and Sam what to do if something like this happens again."

Hadley hefted herself up and locked her arms over his chest, "That's fair enough."

Danny grabbed her legs and took off into the sky, headed for Vlad's house. He pondered the existence of other creatures, and how he could ever hope to protect Amity Park without Hadley.

He couldn't do that if she left, now, could he?

…

Hadley accepted a decent sum of money from the Mayor when she presented him the charred skull of the fallen Alpha. He admired it with awe as she and Danny left the mansion.

"We should celebrate," Hadley said. "It's not often that I could take down a beast like that without acquiring another bunch of scars."

"How would you want to celebrate?" Danny asked.

"I'm thirsty," she grinned devilishly.

They found a bar outside of town. One Hadley identified. She seemed to know a few of the scary-looking guys inside, and the bartender called her 'sweetheart'.

She had an amber liquid in a glass set before her, and one before Danny. He picked it up and smelled it, curiosity sparkling in his blue eyes. It certainly wasn't beer. He turned to Hadley. She clinked her glass to his and downed the whole thing.

Danny didn't want to be shown up in a place like this, so he copied her. The liquid was sweet at first, but left a bitterness biting his tongue as it burned down his throat. A few minutes passed as it warmed in his gut. His eyes were heavy-lidded and happy as Hadley ordered another round.

He downed it just as he had the first, licking his lips. Hadley ordered two beers to sip on as the band played upbeat rock songs in the background.

"Wanna dance?" Danny's crooked grin broke through Hadley's tough exterior.

She laughed over the loud music, "Can you stand?"

Danny hopped off the chair, feeling ten feet tall as he ran his fingers through his black hair. He looked at her, tracing her lines with his eyes. He held his hand out to her.

She laughed again and downed the rest of her beer. She hopped down and pulled him to the crowded dance floor.

Danny was too warm to care that he was never a good dancer, and put his hands on Hadley's hips without thinking. She didn't seem to mind, and they danced in a way that would've made Danny blush had he not drank whatever was in those two glasses.

The whole crowd was packed on the little dance floor, some dancing alone, some dancing in pairs, all inappropriately for any function Danny had been to. But Hadley grew up with these people. It never bothered her as long as they kept their uninvited hands to themselves.

Hadley had an arm around Danny's neck and another reaching to grab a shot glass from a waiter's tray. She downed it quickly and set it back on the tray without breaking rhythm.

Danny kept his heavy lidded eyes on her as they danced. Sweat was beginning to bead on his forehead and glisten on hers. He smelled the bittersweet scent of their drinks on her breath as he pulled her closer. His bodily reactions were much slower than usual, but his hormones were completely on point. He noticed every feminine inch of her body that was touching him. If she noticed his reaction, it didn't show.

Hadley did notice, but she was feeling much too warm to care. This wasn't an opportunity that she'd pass up when it finally presented itself, and she could tell Danny was feeling the token effect of alcohol on a young adult's body. It wasn't surprising. The atmosphere inside the bar was full of that kind of thing. Couples were making out in the corners of the room, on the dance floor, and doing obvious things in the bathroom stalls. It didn't faze her, but it didn't stop her from enjoying the attractive body attached to those ocean blue eyes before her.

Danny leaned in and kissed her lazily, moving against the softness of her lips. Hadley accepted easily, and returned it with a drunken heat that made Danny's body react further.

He didn't remember how they got back to Hadley's house. He barely remembered her paying the tab with Masters' money. But his lips never left hers as she pushed open the door. Danny collapsed on top of her on the makeshift bed, his hands never settling on one spot. Hadley tugged at his damp hair as he pulled at her clothes. The drinks were wearing off in her, but she was still perfectly content with the situation. If Danny's flushed cheeks were any indication, he was still heavily intoxicated.

That just made him more urgent.

He wasn't without skill, but Hadley doubted he'd had much practice. He couldn't get her bra unhooked, and eventually just phased it off of her. His clothes were scattered about the room along with hers, but he didn't care at the moment.

Neither did she.


	7. Hangover

**Chapter Seven**

It was nearly dawn when Hadley drifted off to sleep. When Danny awoke, the sun was setting in the sky. His head was sore, and his limbs felt heavy.

He looked around the room, a sinking feeling in his gut.

 _Oh._

He remembered bits of the previous night. The drinks, the dancing…Hadley.

He looked beside him. She was still asleep, lying on her stomach with the sheets over her hips. Danny was painfully aware of his lack of clothing, but Hadley looked as if she hadn't a care in the world.

The ink that covered her back was more easily viewable, and Danny took a moment to notice it. They were dark wings like those of a bat, the top bends curving up the back of her neck and the bottom ends reaching nearly to the low-laying sheet. She had a sharp, tribal-looking tattoo sleeve on her right arm.

Danny laid back down, rubbing his head.

Hadley sat up, her back to him, and stretched. She was only in underwear, making Danny blush deeply as she stood and grabbed a sport bra and cotton shorts.

Danny sat up, bunching the sheets over himself. He couldn't think of anything to say.

Hadley picked up his jeans and turned around to face him, "You know, whiskey makes you kind of fun." She tossed him his jeans. "But you change into a ghost when you're done. If you're hell bent of keeping your situation a secret, make sure any girl you date knows about it before you fuck her."

Danny turned a deeper shade of red, "I… what?"

"It's not too bad. Most guys just have a weird facial expression," Hadley replied casually as she searched for his t-shirt.

Danny rubbed his head, "I…we drank whiskey?"

Hadley laughed, "I didn't realize you were such a lightweight. You only had two glasses and half a beer."

"Beer…" the night was returning to him in flashes. He fell back down on the pillow with a hand over his eyes, "Oh my god."

"Drink water. It'll pass," she tossed him a water bottle.

Danny threw a hand up and caught it without lifting the hand over his eyes. "Then we…?"

"Had sex," Hadley confirmed, picking up her own discarded clothes and tossing them into a pile. "But you already knew that."

Danny sat up, pulling his jeans on, "Did you, I mean…was I… were you able to…?"

Hadley laughed even harder, "About three times. You were done before we even started, but that didn't stop you. By the third try, you figured it out."

Danny's face burned, and he couldn't meet her eyes. "I just…we really…"

Hadley shook her head, still smiling. "Don't tell me you've never had a one night stand before."

Danny actually did look at her, this time with blatant shock.

Hadley's smile faltered. "Really? How old are you?"

"Eighteen," he managed.

"Oh, fuck," she said. "At least they didn't card you at the bar."

Danny looked at her as if she'd grown a second head.

"We better get you home, then, kiddo. Your phone's been going off all day," she said, walking into the bathroom and starting a shower.

Danny fumbled around until he found his phone. It was already six in the evening. He had a few missed calls from his sister, nearly ten texts from Tucker, and fifteen missed calls from Sam.

 _Son of a bitch._

…

Hadley drove him immediately to Sam's house. His head hurt too much to fly as he chugged the water bottle Hadley gave him.

Sam nearly strangled Danny in a hug as he knocked on the front door. She tugged them both up to her room quickly.

"What happened? You texted me that you went to Vlad's house to drop off the skull, then I didn't hear from you all day!" she shouted at him.

Hadley excused herself to the bathroom.

"Hadley said she wanted to celebrate, so we went out of town to this little place she knew of," Danny worded carefully.

Sam saw right through it, "What kind of place was it?"

Danny sighed, "It was a bar, okay? Hadley and I went to a bar and had a few drinks."

"You drank?" Sam fumed. "They didn't card you?"

"The bartender knew Hadley. He didn't even ask who I was," Danny replied, rubbing his temples.

"Then what happened?" Sam asked.

"We, uh, danced for a little bit," Danny mumbled. "Then I woke up this evening at her house. I guess I slept off most of the hangover."

Sam caught the blush rising to his cheeks. It didn't take a genius to put the pieces together. She stormed out of the room to the bathroom. Hadley stood looking into the mirror, flossing her teeth.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Sam growled.

Hadley looked at her, wide-eyed with confusion, "What, a homicidal maniac can't care about her dental hygiene?"

Sam just scowled at her.

"If it makes you feel any better, it's my own floss," Hadley turned back to the mirror and continued with her task.

Sam stepped into the bathroom and closed the door behind her. "I don't care about the damn floss! I'm talking about your little night out with Danny."

"What about it?" she asked around the string in between her teeth.

"You took him to a _bar_? You got him _drunk_ and you took advantage of him!" Sam hissed.

Hadley never looked away from her reflection, "I don't do that, kid. People who do that around my crowd get their brains blown out." She wiggled the floss in another section of teeth, "Besides, he was the one who initiated it."

Sam was livid, "So you just go for anyone who throws themselves at you?"

Hadley didn't bat an eye, "Only if I want to."

Sam was too mad to rationalize, "You… you—!"

This time Hadley turned to face her. Her cool blue eyes met burning amethyst ones. "What does it matter to you what I do? A man can sleep around all his life, but when a woman does it, she earns a bad name? I figured regular humans were more advanced than that."

Sam wasn't one to buy into social norms like that, but at the moment, she was too enraged to care. "Do you even realize he was a _virgin_?"

Hadley looked a little surprised, "I figured he wasn't overly practiced, but I didn't think he was _completely_ inexperienced."

"Because of you, he'll remember his very first time as a drunken mistake!" Sam had to make a conscious effort not to scream.

"The first and second times were," She corrected, turning back to the mirror. "The third was pretty good."

" _Three_ times?" Sam whispered in disbelief. "You did it three times?"

"If you're only counting the number of times we both finished, then yes. Three." Hadley dropped the floss into the garbage can. "It's a little difficult when you're as hammered as he was." She walked past an open-mouthed Sam through the bathroom door.

Hadley poked her head in Sam's room, were Danny was lying. He was on the phone with someone, so Hadley waited.

"I'm not kidding. I barely even remember it, but the times I can remember were awesome! But Sam is really pissed at me, now," Danny spoke into the mic. "What does that have to do with anything? Sam is my friend. She made it clear. She has no right to be pissed at me for it."

Hadley sighed, waiting.

"Hell yeah, I'd do it again," he said. "No, the scars didn't bother me. They aren't what you usually see, but neither were the tattoos."

Hadley got tired of waiting, so she turned and left.

Sam finally gathered herself enough to make it back to Danny. He was hanging up the phone when she walked in. Hadley's Blazer could be heard through the window as she drove away.

"That was Tucker. He said he'd be here soon," Danny said, lying back on the mattress.

Sam sat beside him. "Do you…need anything?"

"Some ibuprofen would be nice," Danny had thrown an arm over his eyes. "And some food."

"I can't believe you did that," she whispered.

"Fine, just the ibuprofen, then," he replied.

"No, I mean I can't believe you slept with Hadley," she said. "I thought you were better than that."

Danny sat up and met her eyes, pensive. "What do you mean?"

"I mean you aren't that guy, Danny," Sam clarified. "You aren't the guy that sleeps around. Hell, you aren't even the guy that gets drunk!"

"It's not like you make it sound, Sam," Danny almost laughed. "It's not like I was out doing crack or something."

"No, you were out doing a killer," she snapped.

"Hadley only kills supernatural creatures," Danny corrected.

"She killed that teenager," Sam countered.

"That teenager was a werewolf," Danny defended. "And he attacked us."

"Why are you defending her?" Sam snapped.

"Why do you hate her?" Danny opposed. "A few days ago, you thought she was awesome."

"That was before she was a drunken slut!" Sam yelled back.

Danny eyed her, "Since when do you care what other people do?"

"Since they got involved with my best friend," she hissed back.

Danny shook his head and stood. He walked to the door and turned around. "She saved Amity Park, and all you care about is her hobbies. She's been on her own since she was six years old, Sam. She's not a saint, but at least she has the decency to be honest about who she is."

"Honest?" Sam growled. "How can you say that? You don't even know her! The only reason you knew about her past was because Tucker searched it online!"

"So she didn't share her sob story," Danny threw his arms out. "She never lied about it! When you talk to the cashier at Nasty Burger, do you tell them your life story?"

"That's a little different, don't you think?" she replied lowly.

"What's the real problem here, Sam?" Danny snapped. "You didn't step in when I almost cheated on the C.A.T. test. What's different now?"

Sam clenched her teeth together.

"We're eighteen, Sam. We graduate in less than a month. We're old enough to make bad choices, don't you think?" Danny turned and left the room, passing Tucker on the way out.

"What was that all about?" Tucker asked when he reached Sam's room.

Sam crossed her arms over her chest. "Nothing."


	8. What Happened to You?

**Chapter Eight**

Sam eventually cooled off and was back to talking to Danny again, much to Tucker's relief. He was tired of being their middle-man.

The three of them met Hadley at her place for a few days after school to learn about the kind of things they might begin to see around Amity Park. Hadley first taught them about the more common monsters, like Vampires, Werewolves, and the most frequently mentioned in sci-fi media. There was a reason they were so popular.

Sam still didn't like Hadley, but knew the training was necessary, so she just wore a mask of indifference. Tucker discovered that all the years of using his fingers with technology made him quite skilled with knives. Hadley even seemed impressed with his hand-eye coordination.

Danny had to learn a lot with weapons. The guns he was used to didn't kick the way Hadley's pistols did. His aim wasn't bad, but then again, he had target practice down from using his ghost powers.

Sam liked hand-to-hand combat the most. She paid special attention to weak points on various creatures, and beat Danny and Tucker on several occasions in their practice-spars. She was a challenge for Hadley, but never could quite beat the Hunter.

Hadley could tell that Sam got a certain satisfaction from landing punches.

After Tucker and Sam left one evening, Danny held back to help Hadley clean up. The sun was sinking below the horizon and the air was cooling down around them.

"You guys are pretty damn good," she said, dismantling a gun. "You shouldn't need me anymore."

Danny stopped wiping down the knives and looked up.

"I should be out of here in a few days, then." She mindlessly began loading the clip with bullets.

"I'm sure there'll be more to keep you busy soon enough, if what you say about Amity Park is true," Danny replied, trying to play it cool.

"But there's three other hunters who can take care of it," Hadley clicked the clip into the gun and loaded a bullet into the chamber. "I have to keep moving."

"Why?" Danny asked, tucking the knives into their sheaths.

"It's my job," she holstered the loaded gun and reached to dismantle another. "There's more than a few monsters, but not very many hunters."

Danny stayed quiet for a moment. She was loading a revolver, the one she kept under her pillow. He got a sinking feeling.

"What happened to you?" he asked. "When you decided to do this?"

Hadley stopped loading the revolver for a second, then flicked the cylinder back into place roughly. "I don't talk about it."

"Why?" Danny asked.

"I just don't, alright?" she snapped, tucking the revolver into the duffel bag.

"Hadley," he met her eyes. "Please tell me."

Hadley frowned and looked down, "Why do you want to know so badly?"

"Because I don't know much about you, but you've become a friend to me," Danny replied. "Please, Hadley."

She looked at him briefly and sighed. Her tone was harsh when she spoke. "What did the article tell you?"

"That an animal killed your family but left you alive," he responded. "Is that true?"

"It's not completely false," she replied bitterly. "They're dead, and I'm alive."

"What happened?"

Hadley scowled, "A necromancer came into town. He was using spirits to possess people for his own entertainment. One of his spirits possessed me and made me—"

Danny kept his green eyes on her as her jaw muscles worked in anger and pain.

"It made me into a demon. He made _me_ kill all of them, and when the spirit let me go, it attacked me." She gathered up the bag angrily and walked back to the house.

"What happened after that?"

She dropped the bag on the table, "I went to the town's doctor. I told him what I saw. He was the only one who believed me. I told him that I would do anything to get back at that horrible thing. As it turns out, the doctor was a sorcerer."

"A sorcerer?" Danny asked.

"They exist, too. Not like the pointy-hat-with-the-stars-on-it kind. But he told me that there were other creatures that did bad things, and that I could stop them if I became more than a human."

Danny listened.

"So I agreed. He turned me into what I am, taught me everything I know, and I've been on the road ever since. I was barely fifteen when I left," she finished, walking back out to gather more of her things.

"What are you?" Danny asked.

Hadley shook her head, "You ask too many questions."

"It's a fair question," Danny replied. "You can't just leave it out. It's pretty important to the story."

"I can, and I will," she snapped.

Danny floated behind her, "Please?"

Hadley grumbled a 'no'.

Danny floated up and over, looking upside-down at her face, "Please?"

"No," Hadley's brows pushed down over her eyes in irritation.

Danny stuck out his lower lip.

Hadley blinked slowly in agitation.

Danny hefted a dramatic sigh and retracted from her face, leaning instead with his chin resting in her hair. "Fine."

Hadley exhaled, continuing her task of cleaning up. Danny's phone rang.

"Hello?" he answered.

Hadley's ears picked up a female voice on the line. "Danny, turn on the news right now."

"Whoa, Sam. What's going on?" Danny asked.

"Turn on the news. _Now_. There's been another attack," she replied urgently.

Danny put her on speakerphone and turned a live feed on his phone.

"Another gruesome animal attack in Amity Park," the Anchorwoman said. "The four missing women were found in the park this morning, strategically placed throughout the play structure in a sickening display. Police have no leads so far…"

Danny switched back to the call, "What do they know about it so far?"

"Tucker is searching it now," Sam responded. "But they were set up to look like they were _playing_ , Danny. What kind of sick—"

Tucker interrupted her, "I've got something."

"What is it?" Danny asked.

"Their…" he swallowed nervously. "Their throats were ripped out."

"What?" Danny looked to Hadley, who frowned in irritation.

"Their throats were torn out. The autopsy report says it was done with _teeth_." Tucker's voice was low with shock.

Danny looked at Hadley questioningly.

"What other injuries were acquired?" she asked.

"The report says several bite marks were present; most commonly on the thighs, chest, and wrists. Chafing on the lips suggested their mouths were taped shut, and bruised rope-burns around the wrists and ankles," he read reluctantly.

"What is it, Hadley?" Danny asked.

Hadley met Danny's eyes, "What was the cause of death?"

"The throat ripping, I'm guessing," Tucker replied. "Oh wait, here it is. It says blood loss."

Hadley held Danny's gaze expectantly, raising her brows in waiting.

Danny didn't have to think too hard. "Vampires."


	9. Tell Me You Like Me

**Chapter Nine**

"Vampires?" Tucker repeated. "This should be interesting."

"Vampires are sick," Hadley replied. "They're driven by hunger. If you have one now, there'll be more to come later."

"How do we find them?" Danny asked.

"They'll be hiding out in their burial sights," Hadley said. "They don't like the sun. The older they are, the stronger they are, but they will be more susceptible to the sun. Judging by the intricate planning of the disposal, they're old enough to enjoy themselves rather than just feeding."

"What do you mean?" Sam asked.

"Vampires usually go through a stage after they rise that they still feel emotion. Guilt over their kills. Most don't go past this, and kill themselves one way or another. The few that do survive become predators. They're sick as fuck. The fear of their prey drives them," Hadley informed. "There were only three victims, so there will be, at most, three vampires."

"Why?" Danny asked.

"Vampires are territorial. They don't share food," Hadley replied.

"You mean like Tucker?" Sam interjected.

"Har har," he retorted. "You would share if you ate real food."

"Don't start this shit," Hadley snapped. "We need to make a plan."

"What should we do? Tell Masters?" Danny asked.

"Get him to reassign the curfew," Hadley said. " _No one_ goes out after sundown."

"Weapons?" Danny asked, his protective instincts in full swing.

"Wood," Hadley replied. "Wood itself is toxic to Vampires. Fire always works. Chopping off the head is a personal favorite." She added the last part with a small smile, as if recalling a fond memory.

"That would kill just about anything," Tucker said.

"How do we know when we see one?" Sam asked.

"It's completely obvious," Hadley answered. "Vampires aren't the enchanting supermodel-casted creatures you see in your teen-fetish TV shows. They aren't beautiful. They're creepy as fuck. They're walking corpses."

"So how do they have the capacity to have guilt?" Danny asked.

"Vampires are said to be created when a demon possesses a corpse," Hadley answered. "They go for the least-decomposed possible, and usually the corpse's spirit hasn't left yet. The demon and the spirit are fighting over the corpse."

"There's about fifty goths at the bookstore I go to whose black hearts would soar at hearing this information," Sam's voice came through the speaker.

"I'll never understand you people," Hadley replied.

…

"You think it's a _what_?" Vlad was beyond irritated. Hadley was supposed to have taken care of the attacks. Now she says it's a _vampire_ that's out plaguing the town?

"Nosferatu, Dracula, whatever clicks in your fruit-loop brain," Hadley replied. "You've got at least one. And if they're popping up now, you're only going to get more. To be honest, I'm surprised this is your first case of them."

"Why?" Vlad asked.

"All the ghosts," Hadley responded. "That's how it starts, anyways."

"What do you expect me to do? Arm everyone in town with wooden stakes and crosses?" Vlad remarked sarcastically.

"That would be best," she replied. "Otherwise you'll have a large pile of bodies filling up the ground. Which, in turn, means more vampires."

"And I'm supposed to believe that this attack isn't a convenient little plot for you to stay in Amity Park on my dime?" Vlad tucked his hands behind his back and scowled at her.

Hadley crossed her arms over her chest and maintained her glare, "You're the one who came to find me. If you want the job done discretely, then I expect payment. Otherwise, I have no shame in setting the evil bastard on fire in the center of the town square."

Danny looked over to her. He didn't doubt for a second that she was telling the truth. Shame wasn't really present in Hadley. He found that out during their nights together…all of them.

"It's up to you, Masters. I'm here out of a personal obligation. Nothing in my own code says that an audience matters," Hadley's chin was low, and she looked at the fuming mayor through lowered brows, challenging him.

Vlad gritted his teeth, "What do you require?"

Hadley smirked, "Just the cost of living. I don't have time for luxuries."

"Fine," Vlad snapped.

"Glad you've come to see things my way," she reached out her hand arrogantly.

Vlad shook it briefly, still scowling when his hand retracted to behind his back.

"Don't forget to lock your doors, Mr. Mayor," Hadley drawled maliciously. "Vampires love an easy prey for an appetizer."

Danny shared her smirk as they walked down the hall. Few people could handle Vlad that way. Even he couldn't make the Mayor cave. Hadley knew more about this creature than Vlad, and Vlad _hated_ that.

The cool night air tingled against Danny's skin, causing gooseflesh to rise beneath the sleeves of his favorite white t-shirt. Hadley had goosebumps as well, but she didn't appeared disturbed by it. Danny threw an arm over her shoulder.

"What do we do first?" he asked amiably.

Hadley's brows lowered at his affection. "We go to the crime scene."

"You think whoever did it will be back?" Danny asked.

"No, but maybe I'll be able to track it back to its resting place," Hadley replied, leaving Danny to walk around to the driver's side of her Blazer.

"How?" Danny hopped in when she unlocked the door.

"The smell of a rotting corpse is easy to pick out," Hadley answered, cranking the engine.

The park was still blocked off by police tape when they arrived. Any footprints the Vampire would've left were long since disturbed by the police who 'gathered evidence' when the bodies were found. Tucker had sent the pictures taken by the police to Danny's phone. Hadley checked the spots where the bodies sat first, hoping to catch something.

The scent of perfume masked the Vampire's trail fairly well. Hadley did a perimeter sweep, looking for the escape route once the bodies were dumped.

"I've got something," Danny said.

"What is it?" Hadley asked.

"The report says one of the bodies had skin under her fingernails," Danny read. "They tested it and it belonged to one of the victims of the werewolf attack."

"Makes sense," Hadley replied. "They were the last ones to die, therefore, there would only be a little decomposition."

"But this one wasn't buried yet. He was in the coroner's office, waiting on paperwork to be transported to the funeral home. He's set to be buried tomorrow," Danny scrolled on the screen.

"Perfect," Hadley replied. "All we have to do is stake the corpse before they bury it."

"If we go to the morgue, do you think we might catch him?" Danny asked. "The sun's only been down for a few hours."

"No, he'd be long gone by now," Hadley said. "But we need more information about when and where he is supposed to be buried."

"We could sneak in," Danny replied.

"We'd have to be dead to get into the morgue," Hadley said. "There's always a graveyard shift there."

Danny smirked devilishly, eyes illuminating green through the oceanic blue. "Or a ghost."

Hadley caught his meaning and shared his malicious grin, "I'm starting to rub off on you."

…

Danny phased them into the record room of the Morgue. The employee on the night shift was wearing headphones two doors away, and Hadley pointed out that invisibility would be all that was needed to hide the two of them if said employee needed to stretch his legs.

Hadley looked through the filing cabinets. Danny kept watch at the door.

She found the file and set it on the little desk, turning on the lamp.

"Find it?" Danny asked, turning from the cracked door.

"It says he'll be buried in Amity Cemetery," she read. "Does nobody cremate anymore?"

"Why would it matter?" Danny asked. "They're dead."

"Spirits hang around when there's something left of them. If their DNA is gone, the have no attachment to this dimension. They're forced to cross over," Hadley answered.

"What about the Ghost Zone?" Danny asked.

"It's linked to this dimension, therefore DNA had to survive for those ghosts to be able to travel back and forth," Hadley clarified. "Like I said before, it's a play pen."

Danny looked back to the hall.

"Did you find what you needed?" he asked.

"Yes," Hadley answered, putting the file back together.

"Good, 'cause we've got company," Danny replied.

Hadley pulled the drawer open and thumbed through the tags to put the file back in the right place. She shoved the drawer closed and whacked the off button on the lamp.

Danny wrapped his arms around Hadley, turning them both invisible, and pulling her out of the way just as the door opened.

The employee still had in headphones, and was drumming on things as he entered.

Hadley and Danny held their breath as they huddled behind the door. Danny was painfully aware of her proximity, a heat creeping up onto his unseen face. Hadley's fingers grabbed at Danny's sides nervously as they watched the employee through the window of the door.

He continued drumming on the filing cabinet as he put things away. When he finally walked out, he pulled the door shut, and Danny released the breath he held.

They both dropped the invisibility, but Danny didn't let go as he peered out the window to make sure the employee had really left.

Hadley tried to pull away, but was held firm by Danny's grip. She pushed on his chest.

"Ahem," she said.

Danny looked down at her, then released, "Sorry."

"Let's get out of here," she whispered. "You have to get home, and I have to plan out our attack."

Danny nodded reluctantly. He knew he would pay for it if he stayed up later again. He could barely keep his eyes open in class when they went hunting for the werewolf, but he was beginning to enjoy Hadley's company more than pretending to have a social life.

Danny dropped Hadley off where she parked a few minutes later.

"Thanks," she said. "You know, I'm starting to see why some hunters have partners."

Something fluttered in Danny's chest. He knew that was a huge compliment coming from Hadley.

"You've never had one?" he asked.

She shook her head, "Never was able to stand anyone much longer than it took to complete a job."

"So what you're trying to say is that you like me," Danny wore a mischievous smile as he teased her.

She put her hands up, "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Don't read too far into it. You were a good lay and you're not completely obnoxious. It's not a love confession."

"I'll still take it," he laughed, pulling her into a tight hug and feeling her annoyance roll off her in waves.

"Get off me," Hadley's voice was muffled against Danny's shoulder.

"Tell me you like me," Danny teased.

"Go fuck yourself," she mumbled back.

"Come on, Hadley. Admit it!" Danny squeezed harder and swung back and forth.

"So help me, Danny, I will _end_ you," she hissed into his suit.

Danny pressed his cheek to her hair, "Come on, Hads. You know you love me."

Hadley grumbled. "I fucking hate you right now."

"Say it."

"Let go."

" _Say it_!"

"Fine!" She growled. "You're tolerable."

Danny laughed but didn't let go, "I can't quite hear you, Hads."

"You're good company, okay?" she growled louder. "Are you happy now, you toolbag?"

Danny released her and she pushed away, straightening her t-shirt.

"Very," Danny replied, grinning in satisfaction.

Hadley looked at him, brows low. "Don't you have somewhere to be?"

Danny laughed and took off into the sky. "Night, Hads."

She frowned after him. But as she hopped up into her Blazer, she fought back a smile.

"Fucking tool," she chuckled to herself.


	10. You're Going For A Swim

Chapter Ten

Danny parked his jeep at the school the next morning, barely conscious. Even though he'd made it to bed before midnight, he didn't get enough sleep. He was dozing off in the driver's seat now, his head leaning back over the top of the seat.

A tap on his window startled him awake and he whirled his head around to see Sam's urgent face.

He opened the door slowly and hopped out, rubbing a hand over his face.

"Hey, Sam," he yawned.

"Danny, there's been another attack," she said urgently.

Danny's tired eyes became alert, "What? What happened?"

Sam pulled his arm, leading him to the gymnasium. There was a crowd of students up until a tape line and a barricade of officers. Danny phased through the outside wall to get in and look at the scene, under Sam's cover.

Just as the last attack had been, this was horrific. Four corpses with torn throats wore the graduation gowns that had just been delivered the previous week. One hung from the basketball hoop with the cord from the Graduation banner, two were propped up to look as if they pulled the cord of the first, and the fourth was holding a bat, posed like a child about to swing at a piñata. Danny's gut dropped like a lead brick.

He watched as three officers tried to pry the bat from the rigor-mortis-stiffened fingers of the fourth corpse, and felt his anger flood in him.

He made it back to Sam inconspicuously, wearing a serious expression that was void of the lethargy that plagued his body.

"What did you see?" Sam asked urgently. "Danny?"

Danny swallowed thickly, "Another display."

Sam covered her mouth, "What this time?"

"A graduation piñata," he replied darkly, walking back to the crowd.

Sam took a minute to process his description, then caught up with him. "So you and _Hadley_ didn't get it last night?"

Danny fought the urge to roll his eyes, "No, Sam. We didn't find a trail."

"What do you mean?" she snapped. "Do you two ever get anything done?"

Danny met her gaze with one of agitation.

"Besides each other," she added coldly.

Danny turned and began walking away.

"Where are you going?" she asked. "We have to find Tucker."

Danny spun around so fast, Sam ran right into his chest, "So go find him, then! I don't have time for your petty comments. Hadley and I are the only ones actually going after these things. I don't see you out there with a stake!"

She stomped her heavy boot down, "Maybe if I was out there, you two would have to do something other than ogle at each other all night!"

"As opposed to sitting around in Tucker's room complaining about me?" Danny argued back. "You used to be right there with me when it was ghosts, but now that it's real monsters, you're safe at home criticizing the two people who actually _are_ out fighting!"

"You're never around to let us know what's going on! All I know is that you aren't with me or Tuck. You don't tell us anything anymore!" Sam shouted back, following him away from the students.

"You aren't trying too hard to get involved, Sam," Danny countered lowly.

"I can hardly get your attention when Hadley's around!" she yelled back. "It's like you're under her spell and nothing matters but what that scar-faced, promiscuous, homicidal maniac has to say!"

Danny's glare sent a shiver down Sam's spine despite the heat of her anger. He shook his head and turned away, jaw muscles working beneath his skin.

"Where the hell do you think you're going?" she yelled, still fuming.

"To catch a blood-sucking corpse!" he called back. "Don't wait up."

He got into the jeep before Sam could stop him. He knew classes would be cancelled after the little display in the gymnasium, but didn't care even if they weren't. He gunned the engine to Hadley's house, seeing the glow of his eyes reflected in the chrome on the steering wheel.

Hadley was out by the lake when he showed up. The cloud cover overhead blocked out the direct rays of sunlight, allowing her to sit on the docks without worry. She felt the familiar tingle that announced Danny's presence. He flopped down beside her, wrapping his arms loosely around his bent knees. She could feel the heat of his anger radiating from him. Luckily she was calm, and didn't want to further aggravate her…ally.

She waited patiently for his fury to dull to a simmer.

"Good morning," she greeted calmly.

"There was another attack," he replied, his eyes remaining on the lake. A warm breeze stirred his dark hair, and Hadley looked over to him without expression.

"Four more students," he said. "In their graduation gowns."

Hadley didn't say anything and kept her face void of expression.

"Sam's pissed," he finally spat out.

"When is she not?" Hadley finally said.

Danny gave a short, bitter laugh. "Lately, never."

"Not that I would know," Hadley snickered. "She hates me more than Tucker hates her diet."

Danny almost smiled, "She's out of her fucking mind."

"Whoo, do you kiss your mother with that mouth?" Hadley teased.

This time, Danny did crack a smile. He nudged her playfully with his shoulder.

"Look, she cares about you," Hadley said. "I don't have much experience with the whole 'friendship' thing, but it doesn't seem like this is how it should go."

"It didn't used to," Danny said. "Ever since freshman year ended, she's been different."

"You mean she wasn't always a cranky bitch?" Hadley asked.

Danny laughed, "She's always had an attitude. But she's gotten in a real kick about monitoring me. First it was about Valerie, then it was that I wasn't training enough…" he trailed off. "It's like no matter what I do, it's not the right thing."

"Why does it matter if she doesn't agree with your decisions?" Hadley's brow dropped low over one eye.

Danny's brows furrowed pensively, "She's my best friend. She always seemed to know best when we were younger, but now it doesn't feel that way."

"So, maybe you should just do you for a while," she suggested. "Sam will eventually get over it. You're a grown man, Danny. It's not a crime to start acting like one."

Danny looked at her, "You're right, Hads."

He threw an arm around her and pulled her in for a half-hug, much to her distaste.

She patted the arm around her neck, "This is touching, but if you don't let go, you're going in the water."

"Oh, I am?" Danny teased.

"Yes, you are." Hadley didn't sound like she was teasing.

Danny didn't care, "If I go in, so do you."

"Wanna bet?" Hadley hissed.

Before Danny could protest, she managed to roll over him and pull him over her. He fell off of the side of the dock into the water with a splash.

Hadley wore a satisfied half-smile when his head emerged. He flipped his wet hair from his face and looked up at her with a frown.

"You're lucky my phone and wallet are in my jeep," he grumbled, treading the cool water.

Hadley laughed, "You're lucky I didn't _throw_ you off the dock."

A wicked smirk crossed Danny's masculine features, and he hefted his soaked body back up onto the docks.

His t-shirt and shorts clung to his muscular form, and he stripped off the wet shirt. Hadley didn't try to hide her gaze that fell on his toned chest and abdomen. Danny removed his shoes and socks and laid them on the dock to dry out.

"I'm a man of my word, Hads," he said maliciously.

Hadley's wandering eyes made a beeline to meet his, "What?"

Danny scooped her up in his arms and hefted her about six feet from the dock into the water. A genuine laugh erupted from his throat when her head surfaced, wearing a murderous scowl.

"You think this is funny, huh, Fenton?" Hadley's voice was soaked in sarcasm.

"Oh yeah," he replied, still laughing.

"Help me up, you tool," she swam back and threw her hand up.

He offered his hand to her, prepared to haul her back up to the dock. When her torso was lifted above the water, his eyes trailed down to her see-through white shirt. She wore a black bra that he was quite fond of, and his eyes lingered a moment.

Hadley noticed, and pulled on his arm. He toppled over, back into the water beside her.

Hadley grabbed her flip flops that had floated up and tossed them onto the dock beside Danny's things.

Danny surfaced and spit water like a fountain at her.

Hadley splashed him, "That's what you get."

Danny clasped his hands together and squirted water at her as she splashed him, laughing as she fought to push her hair from her face.

He sucked in a breath and dunked under the water. Hadley combed her hair back with her fingers and looked around for Danny. He'd gone under, she knew, but the water was dark enough in the cloud-dimmed light to hide him.

Two hands grabbed her hips and she sucked in a breath before they pulled her under. Danny's form was barely visible in the water as he surfaced. Hadley dove down further.

Danny swept his shaggy hair from his face and looked around, waiting for Hadley to surface. He waited a few seconds, then he felt two hands on top of his head. She dunked him under and bolted for the dock.

"Get back here!" he called, laughing.

She had boosted herself up on her hands, but Danny caught her. His arms wrapped around her torso and he pulled her back into the water. She let out a yelp as her grip slipped from the wood.

Danny laughed as she steadied herself, her hair covering her eyes. She dunked under and swam forward, pushing the hair back. She resurfaced close to Danny.

His oceanic eyes looked over her face, taking in the features. She had a nose that came to a soft point, and somewhat full lips. His mind recalled the hazy memories of them pressed against his own. A bright white smile pulled at them, followed by a splash.

When he wiped away the excess water, she was hefting herself up onto the dock. He let his eyes linger for a moment over what her jean cutoffs covered, a smirk pulling at his lips. He swam toward her as she turned and sat on the edge, letting her legs hang into the water.

He hefted himself up and sat beside her, "Well, that was refreshing."

Hadley laughed shortly, "Glad you enjoyed your swim."

"You liked it too, don't lie," he nudged her.

She smiled at him sarcastically, "Don't ruin it."

"Just admit that you had fun," he teased. "Tough people _can_ show emotion, you know."

"Nope," Hadley replied. "It's in the rule book."

"Well, I can admit it," Danny smiled sideways at her. "I really enjoy being with you, Hads."

"Really?" she asked, raising a brow. "Why?"

Danny laughed, "Because I can be me. You're unapologetically yourself, and you let others do the same. It's nice to not have to be a hero or a loser or a student."

"Everyone has different sides, Danny," Hadley said, wringing her hair out over her shoulder. "This is just one you don't bring out often."

"I like it," he replied. "It's easy."

"I kinda like it, too," Hadley admitted.

Danny met her eyes.

"He's not a total dickhead," she laughed.

Danny snickered, "Thanks, I think."

Hadley playfully punched his shoulder, "Come on, let's go get you cleaned up. We have a funeral to get to."


	11. Death Wasn't Meant to be Beautiful

**Chapter Eleven**

Danny and Hadley sat in a tree overlooking the gathering of mourners. All were in tears, most of them silently chasing the drops with wrinkled tissue paper. A man and woman made some noise in their weeping. Hadley guessed they were the parents.

A priest stood at the head of the casket with a book, speaking of the afterlife. Hadley tuned it out. She'd heard it all before. More times than she wanted to count. 'Rest in peace,' 'the Lord will greet you,' blah blah blah…

Hadley hated funerals. Not that anyone actually liked to stand in the mud to bury someone, but Hadley _loathed_ them. She knew what laid in waiting for the dead. Rarely ever was it rest.

Danny's heart sat in his gut as he watched them all. He couldn't imagine burying someone he loved. The pain of loss would surely kill him. His brows pushed inward as the painful groans of the woman beside the priest echoed in his ears.

He looked over at Hadley. She wore a grimace of distaste, as if she was looking at something disgusting.

"What's your problem?" he whispered.

Hadley met his eyes, lifting her brows, "What?"

"You're face," he said. "You look annoyed."

Hadley turned back to the funeral. "I hate these things. They're all about laying souls to rest and all that bullshit."

"You don't believe in that?" Danny asked.

"When you've seen what I have, you stop thinking that there is such a thing as peace," Hadley replied. "Besides, the body they're burying for 'eternal resting' is possessed by a demon that drives it to consume the very essence of life from a person. If they knew what was really lying in that glorified shoe box, they wouldn't be standing so close."

Danny blinked at her. "That's not bitter at all."

Hadley rolled her eyes, "What use is putting a body in the ground in a box? It won't fertilize the trees because it's decomposition is encased, and it costs a shit ton of money. A ghost won't need it once they die, and anything that would use it… well, you don't want it."

Danny sighed, "I'll let my parents know I want to be cremated."

"Don't get me wrong, I get the whole 'celebration of life' thing. But at some point, the romanticism of death needs to stop," Hadley said. "Death isn't a pretty thing. It was never supposed to be."

Danny almost missed the flicker of pain through Hadley's disgust. He didn't say anything, but he wondered if she always felt this way.

The mourners lowered the coffin into the ground. Heavy raindrops fell from the cloudy sky. Despite the warmth of the air, they all shivered as they opened their umbrellas. Danny's green eyes pierced through the falling water as the crowd walked away from the lowered coffin.

"Now?" Danny asked.

"Not yet," Hadley said. "We have to make sure they're all gone before we go out there. In my experience, it doesn't go well if you get caught staking the body in a coffin that's just been laid in the ground."

"No one will see me," he replied.

"Thanks to you, we won't even have to open the lid," she said. "I think simply nailing the coffin shut around the staked bastard should do the trick."

"If we're going to stake it anyway, why are we nailing the lid closed?" Danny asked.

"Insurance," Hadley replied.

They disappeared and floated down into the hole. Danny grabbed the wood stake and turned his hand intangible.

"Aim for the heart," Hadley instructed from behind him, her voice close to his ear.

Danny stabbed through, turning off the intangibility once he passed through the coffin lid. He felt his stomach drop as the resistance of the swollen corpse pushed on the stake. He stabbed quickly and released the stake, retracting his hand.

Screams and hisses that sounded inhuman were muffled by the thickness of the coffin. Hadley worked to nail the lid shut as her and Danny's weight prevented it from opening.

Scratching noises accompanied the hisses and screeches inside the wood box as Hadley knocked the final nail in. Danny's breath froze in his throat until the gruesome noises subsided.

"Let's go before an employee comes back with a tractor to fill in the hole," Hadley whispered

Danny shook out of his trance as he felt Hadley's arms around his shoulders. He made them both disappear and flew out of the hole just as the tractor rolled up.

"Do they always scream like that?" Danny asked.

"Wouldn't you if someone woke you up by stabbing a hole in your chest?" Hadley replied sarcastically. "You get used to hearing it."

Danny flew to Vlad's mansion, staying silent. Hadley rested her chin on his shoulder with a sigh.

"Hopefully that was the only one," she said.

"You think there are more?" Danny asked.

"I doubt it," she replied. "Vampires are solitary creatures. I've never witnessed them working together on anything."

"So, we've finished the job," Danny clarified.

"For now," she replied as Danny landed. "More are bound to pop up if there are corpses to support them."

"So you're going to stick around?" Danny asked. "I doubt Tucker could've staked one. And Sam would probably just want pictures with it to show her friends at that creepy bookstore."

Hadley laughed, "Don't underestimate your friends. They may surprise you."

Hadley pulled the cord for the doorbell and a butler answered. As soon as he saw Hadley, he stepped aside, "The Mayor is in his study. He is on the phone with the local Sheriff, so please be patient."

Hadley blew her bangs out of her face when the butler led them through the corridor to Vlad's study. She pushed her braid back over her shoulder as they were being announced.

"Yes," Vlad spoke into the antique white and gold telephone. "Thank you, sheriff."

The butler gestured for Hadley and Danny to enter.

"Miss Reyes, Daniel," Vlad greeted. "Good news, I hope?"

Hadley gave a polite half-smile as they sat before Vlad. "Taken care of."

"Wonderful," he exclaimed leaning back in his chair and folding his hands. "Neatly, I presume?"

"Not a scratch on the coffin," Hadley replied. "It's secured shut, for good measure."

"Excellent," Vlad nodded, "Maybe now the Sheriff will be off my back."

"I would advise that you tell the suits at the morgue to start putting locking mechanisms on coffins and their corpse-fridges," Hadley crossed her ankle over her knee.

"You think we are still at risk?" Vlad asked.

"Absolutely," she answered. "As long as there are fresh dead, there's a risk for vampires."

Vlad nodded tiredly. "I'll send a memo to the funeral homes."

"If anything else pops up, you know where to find me," Hadley rose.

"Miss Reyes," Vlad called. "There is one more thing."

Hadley rested her hands on the back of the chair she had vacated.

"If you plan on staying in Amity park, there is something I need you to do," Vlad's tone was mischievous, though his face was void of expression.

"What?"

"I would like you to attend the Police Academy to become an officer," Vlad said.

Hadley held back no emotion. "You…what?

"If you're going to continue to operate in Amity Park, I would like you on the side of the city," Vlad sat forward, folding his hands over his expensive desk. "The citizens don't trust our forces anymore, and it's an embarrassment how under-prepared they are. I spoke to the Fenton family already. They are on board to share expertise and weaponry."

"You talked to my parents?" Danny's attention was torn from Hadley.

"Just this morning," Vlad answered. "They volunteered you, as well. Jasmine is excused due to her schooling, but, as fate would have it, you graduate in less than a month."

"You _have_ to be shitting me," Hadley bit out. "After the last six years of hiding from the law to protect ignorant people, you want me to work _with_ them? No."

Vlad held his unyielding expression. "I'm sure I can find another whose expertise is akin to your own. Is this your final answer?"

"Let me repeat that," she continued. "Fuck no. As soon as they ran my name and prints, I would be dropped into a cell so fast, you couldn't have time to blink."

Danny looked at her. "What?"

"You would be given a full pardon in exchange for your services, of course," Vlad replied calmly. "It is imperative that Amity Park is prepared for what's coming. A dozen people are buried prematurely in the ground after only two foes. The odds aren't where I would like them to be."

Hadley walked out, "I'm not going to work for a badge!"

Danny followed her out.

"Sleep on it, then," Vlad called confidently. "You have the week to respond."


	12. We've Been Friends for Way too Long

**A/N: I won't be able to update until next week, so I rushed to get this chapter done. I'll update as soon as I return. Don't forget to leave reviews! I love hearing what you have to say!**

 **-HopeLiterature**

 **Chapter Twelve**

"Hadley!" Danny called, jogging after her. "Hadley, wait!"

She didn't slow her pace or even turn, "I'm not going to agree to his terms. You heard him! My job is done."

"No it's not!" Danny said. "Hadley, please stop."

She stopped in her tracks.

"Maybe a compromise can be made," Danny suggested. "You could be a consultant or something. Just please don't leave Amity Park."

"Why?" Hadley turned around to face him. "Why should I stay here? There's thousands of other cities across the country that are just as fucked up as this one!"

"But what about the people you've met here?" Danny asked. "Tucker and Sam, even Vlad. You can't annoy him if you leave."

Hadley waited, knowing he wasn't done.

"And what about me?" Danny added in a quieter voice. "Would you really leave me, Hadley? After all we've been through?"

Hadley looked into his eyes, appearing unmoved. "This is the life I've chosen, Danny. I show up, I kill the monster, I leave. Do you think I've never met another person before?"

That hurt, Danny couldn't deny it. "You'd leave a town to fend for themselves? You and I both know that nobody here will know what to do if something other than a ghost, vampire, or werewolf shows up."

"Your creepy mayor is going to make sure another hunter will be here to take care of that," she replied bitterly. "One that will obey him."

Danny felt his argument slipping, "Anyone he brings in won't be good enough."

"With the size of his pockets, I doubt that." She crossed her arms over her chest.

Danny's temper was beginning to get out of hand, "Damnit, Hadley, if you'd stop being so hard-headed for five fucking minutes—"

" _Hard-headed_?" she interrupted.

"— you'd see that I care enough about you to not want you to leave," Danny finished, fuming.

Hadley didn't yell back, didn't even fume. The anger drained from her face, leaving an expression Danny couldn't read.

"You don't even know me," she responded calmly. "I spared you of that burden."

"Don't do me any favors," Danny countered, stepping closer.

"Danny, you're a great guy. You care about people and people care about you. Don't fuck that up by getting involved in this life. There's a reason nobody's heard of us," Hadley said quietly. "You know where the bar is if you need any more help."

She turned on her heel and walked off.

"Don't you want a lift home?" Danny's aggravated voice echoed in the immaculate grounds of Vlad's property.

"I can manage on my own," she snapped.

Danny watched her go, frustration boiling inside of him. After cracking open her stone exterior, getting her to loosen up a little when he was around, she could just pack up and leave. Did he really mean so little to her?

He didn't bother following her. He was too absorbed in the anger that covered his hurt to risk more of her harsh words. He flew to Tucker's instead.

"Hey, man," Tucker greeted from his desk chair. "You look awful."

"It's nice to see you too," Danny replied sarcastically.

"What's eating at you?" he swiveled fully around as his friend sat on one of the bean bag chairs, returning to his human self.

"Hadley's leaving," Danny spat. "Vlad's going to get another hunter."

"What?" Tucker's voice portrayed an irritated shock. "Vlad's an even bigger fruit loop than we thought if he thinks he can just replace Hadley."

"Well, he does," Danny replied.

"Wait," Tucker read further into it. "Why is she leaving? Did something happen?"

"Vlad wants her to become a police officer so she can train APPD to deal with these things. Apparently she doesn't get along well with law enforcement," Danny answered.

"Why does she have to be an officer to do that?" Tucker asked.

"I don't know," Danny answered. "Those were just Vlad's terms. I suggested they meet somewhere in the middle, but she's so fucking stubborn…"

Tucker studied his friend for a moment. He recognized all the idiosyncrasies long ago, and a familiar smile stretched beneath the black frames of his glasses.

"Why are you looking at me like that," Danny's brows were low. He didn't like Tucker's expression. Not one bit.

"You've got a crush on Hadley!" Tucker exclaimed, proud that he'd figured it out.

"Grow up," Danny snapped.

"Well, you do," Tucker replied smugly. "You really _aren't_ a one-night-stand kind of guy."

Danny threw a pillow at him, "Shut up."

Tucker caught it easily, "Oh, come on, Danny. You brought this on yourself. _Hadley_ of all people? She could kill you with a toothpick. She's not what anyone would call 'date material'."

Danny looked away, shaking his head, "And who is? Sam?"

Tucker looked a little surprised by Danny's words, "You don't think so?"

"You know I feel about her, Tuck. But she's never been 'girlfriend' material. She's my best friend, and I love her, but can you really see her tucked under my arm at a movie? Or dressed up for a fancy dinner with me?" Danny argued.

"Sam loves that stuff, she just pretends not to," Tucker argued.

"With me?" Danny countered. "Tucker, look at me. I'm a beacon for abnormality. I could never give Sam all of that romantic bullshit that you see on TV."

"That's why you liked being with Hadley," Tucker concluded. "She couldn't have it either."

Danny bit his tongue about her secret. If Hadley didn't like _him_ knowing, Danny doubted she would want Tucker to know. "It was easy. I wasn't Danny Phantom then Danny Fenton. I was just Danny. I could help her in ways she didn't even think of, and she never looked at me like I was something special. I was just someone she was working with. I was just an ally. It was easy."

"Being with Sam isn't easy?" Tucker asked.

"No. Not since the accident," he answered. "There's tension. Like she's scared of me."

"Sam isn't scared of you, Danny," Tucker replied as if it was a ridiculous thought.

"She is, Tuck. She's terrified," Danny responded. "I can feel it. It rolls off of her whenever I'm around her in my ghost form."

"Why would she be afraid?" Tucker asked. "She knows you'd never hurt her."

"I don't know," Danny responded. "I wish I did."

"Go talk to her," Tucker advised. "You can't just leave things like this, Danny. You've been friends for way too long."

Danny sighed, looking down at his lap. He shook his head and gave a short, bitter laugh. "Way too long."

…

Sam was awakened that night abruptly. She sat up in her bed, looking around for something to credit her slam back into consciousness.

A figure stood in the corner of her room, black in the dim light that peeked through the heavy curtains.

Sam looked to her alarm clock. It was just past one in the morning. She looked back as the figure stepped into the thin beam of light that poked through the drapes.

Sam squinted into the darkness as the figure took shape. Black hair hung shaggily over ocean-blue eyes. A white t-shirt set loosely over broad shoulders, and denim jeans hugged narrow hips.

"Danny?" Sam rubbed her eyes. "What are you doing here?"

Danny didn't say a word as he approached her. She threw off the covers and met him halfway.

"Shouldn't you be out with _Hadley_?" she snapped.

Danny touched her face, and she swore she saw an apology shining in those deep blue eyes that made her so weak. He reached for her hand, taking it in his own. He pulled it up to his face, turning it gently and kissing her palm.

Sam felt herself being lulled out of reason as he planted gentle kisses up her arm to her shoulder. When his lips touched the skin connecting her shoulder to her neck, her knees wobbled. As he worked his way to her earlobe, she had to latch onto his shoulders to keep upright.

Sensing this, he wrapped his arms around her and guided her back to the bed. He laid her down gently on her back, locking eyes with her. He brushed her nose with his, as if asking permission to kiss her lips.

Sam tangled her fingers in his night-black hair and pulled him in. The instant his lips met hers, she lost all of her thoughts. Every memory of anger, jealousy, pain, every doubt about why he was here, every sensible response to his surprise visit was lost. She reveled in his embrace, and thought nothing of his gestures as he removed every article of their clothing with painstaking caution.

She felt the soft, coolness of his skin against hers, without the shame that should've accompanied her nakedness. His lips never left her skin, and she sighed contently as his hands made their own path across her body.

Sam felt the muscles rippling beneath the skin on his back as she dug her nails in with pleasure. Her moans echoed in the dark room, and she couldn't find the sense to care about being quiet.

She didn't think Danny minded that he was making her whisper his name. What guy would?

…

Sam woke up to her alarm a few hours later. She stretched, recalling the night before. Danny had come to his senses and chosen her. She felt like she was walking on air as she made her way to the bathroom to get ready for school.

The hickey he'd left just lower than right behind her earlobe was still visible, and the bite mark on her breast would have to be covered if she wanted to escape the house with her life.

She still didn't question anything about the night before. Why would she? It was perfect. Danny had given himself to her without the need of whiskey. He'd caressed her lovingly, yet there was no question that he was driven at least a little by primitive instincts.

Danny was hers. End of story.


	13. Maybe She's Possessed

**Chapter Thirteen**

When Danny saw Sam at school the next day, he approached her cautiously. She seemed like she was in a good mood, but Danny knew how delicate those could be.

"Hey, Sam," he greeted her at her locker.

"Oh, hey, Danny," she responded, almost dreamlike in her speech.

"Listen, I didn't mean to be such a jerk yesterday," he began. "You've been there for me since we were kids. It wasn't fair to you for me to snap like that."

Sam's low-lidded amethyst eyes met Danny's.

"I wanted to talk to you last night, but…" Danny trailed off, knowing there wasn't a good enough excuse for putting of his apology.

"It's okay, Danny," Sam replied. "I'm not mad anymore."

"You aren't?" he asked. "Even after I didn't talk about it to you last night, like I planned?"

"We're good," she replied, smiling as the bell rang through the halls. "I gotta go, but I'll see you after class." She kissed his cheek and walked off toward the classroom.

Danny felt a little dumbfounded at that moment. 'We're good'? Was she possessed?

A hand fell on his shoulder, startling him.

"Hey, man. What was that about?" Tucker steered him in the way of their next class as he spoke. Danny looked out of it, and he couldn't really afford another tardy.

"I…" Danny fumbled for words as his friend guided him to his desk. "I don't know. She said she wasn't mad, then she kissed my cheek…"

Tucker looked bewildered, "She said she _wasn't_ mad?"

Danny nodded. "She's all dreamy. And that anxiety she usually feels around me isn't there anymore. It's like she's completely different."

"Maybe she's possessed," Tucker suggested sarcastically as the final bell for class rang.

Danny let out a puff of air that was heavy with bewilderment. "Yeah, maybe."

At the front of the room, the teacher droned on about final exams and their importance to the seniors in the class. Graduation was in two weeks. Finals were in one.

Danny picked at the worn corner of his textbook as the teacher passed out study guides. His mind went back and forth between Sam's strange behavior and Hadley's departure. How could he possibly hope to trust anyone else Vlad brought in? If they could be bought, they couldn't be trusted. They were corruptible. Hadley did what she did for her own reasons. She took the money so she didn't have to use fake credit cards. She couldn't be bought.

He pretended to make notes in the booklet that was passed out, but he couldn't focus. When the class finally ended, Danny pulled Tucker along to find Sam.

That was easier than he thought it would be.

Sam found them first. Her eyelids were still dreamily low, and she looked at Danny differently. Her gaze lingered on him a bit longer than usual as they walked to the lunchroom. Even Tucker noticed.

"Earth to Sam," Tucker poked her with a French fry from the cafeteria-prepared tray before him. He slid onto the bench across from her, and Danny was still in line

"What?" she looked like she was pulled from a trance. It was as if she had forgotten of Tucker's existence.

"What's up with you today?" he asked. "You're so out of it."

"I'm just in a good mood," she replied, poking at her salad.

"Right," Tucker countered dubiously. "And Danny had nothing to do with this?"

"Of course he does," Sam replied.

"What? You're happy he came to his senses and apologized?" Tucker guessed around a mouthful of hamburger.

Sam tilted her head, "He didn't tell you, did he?"

"Tell me what?" Tucker asked.

"Maybe he wants to talk to you about it himself," she speculated, more to herself than to Tucker.

"Talk to me about what?" Tucker asked again.

"I'll let Danny tell you," she said as Danny sat down beside her.

"Let me tell him what?" Danny asked.

"Why I'm in such a good mood," she smiled to him. "Oh, I have to go see my English teacher about a paper. I'll see you guys later."

She stood and kissed his cheek before taking her tray and walking off.

Danny's brow dropped over one eye and a light pink burned in his cheeks.

"Well, Lovebird?" Tucker asked. "Why is she in a good mood?"

Danny blushed, "I don't know."

"You're face says differently," Tucker flicked a fry at him.

"I really don't know, Tuck," he said defensively, still red.

Tucker put his hands up, "Fine, if you don't want to tell me, I guess I can't make you."

Danny lowered his brows. "I'm not hiding anything, Tuck. I don't know what she's talking about. Last time I talked to her was when we had that fight."

"Maybe it wasn't talking," Tucker wiggled his brows.

Danny blushed redder, "Don't look at me like that."

"Oh, come on, Danny," Tucker laughed. "You can't lie to me."

"I'm not lying," Danny defended, returning to his normal color. "After I left your house, I went home and called Jazz. She suggested the same thing you did, so I went to Sam's house to talk to her."

"And…" Tucker looked intrigued.

"And nothing," Danny replied. "She was asleep when I got there. Peacefully sleeping, too. She was smiling. I didn't want to wake her up, so I went home. That's it."

"Maybe she dreamt you groveled at her feet," Tucker frowned, disappointed.

"Yeah, maybe," Danny picked at his sandwich. "That would've explained the satisfied smile."

"Sure would," Tucker laughed.

…

After school, Sam dismissed Danny's attempt at conversation. It seemed to really bother her that he 'pretended' not to know why she was acting this way. She was even more upset when he told her he was going to see Hadley off.

"Why?" she asked. "Haven't you two spent enough time together?" Sam didn't consider herself clingy, but when the man you've been in love with for most of your life finally choses you, then wants to spend more time with an old flame, you get a little uncomfortable. At least that's what she told herself to keep from feeling like an overbearing girlfriend.

"She's my friend, Sam," Danny replied. "She's leaving, probably for good. I should really be there to say goodbye."

Sam didn't look happy about it, but she did understand his reasoning. "You're right. She wasn't my favorite person in the world, but we at least owe her that."

"Where's Tucker?" Danny asked, looking around the parking lot after a minute of walking in silence.

"Detention," Sam replied, pulling at the strap of her spider backpack. "He still has two more to sit through if he wants to graduate."

"I guess we're leaving without him then," Danny sighed. "Did you drive today or do you want to ride with me?"

"I'll go with you," she replied, following him to his jeep.

The ride was uncomfortable and silent. Sam kept looking at Danny's hand as he shifted though four-wheel-drive down the muddy road to Hadley's place. Her eyes were dreamy as she rested her head back on the seat, facing him.

Danny blushed lightly, uneasy with her staring. When they finally made it to the little shack, Sam sat higher in the seat, wearing a mask of indifference.

Danny parked and hopped out, walking over to the Blazer. Sam slammed the jeep door and followed a moment later.

Hadley was cleaning her favorite handgun on the lowered tailgate of the Blazer when Danny approached.

"Hey, Hads," Danny greeted.

Sam frowned at the nickname.

"Hey, Danny," Hadley replied, then turned to Sam, "Spawn."

Sam scowled deeper.

"I was afraid I would miss you," Danny said. "I wanted to see you off."

"I figured you would," Hadley teased.

"I got you something," Danny turned and walked back to the jeep. "Almost forgot it on the way to school this morning."

Hadley watched as he grabbed something from inside the jeep and ran back.

"For when you aren't close to a bar," he smiled, handing over a glass bottle.

Hadley took the bottle, turning it over to see the label.

"How'd you get your hands on a bottle of Jack Daniels?" Hadley laughed.

"That bartender you knew, Dane," Danny answered. "I told him you were leaving town and I wanted something to thank you. He gave me this at a discounted price."

Hadley laughed, "Thanks, Danny."

Sam kept her scowl.

"Do you need any help?" Danny asked.

"There's a bag of blankets on the table, if you feel like helping, rather than throwing out an empty gesture," she gestured back to the makeshift house.

"It was an empty gesture," Danny joked.

Hadley gave him a solid hit to the shoulder, making him laugh before turning around and heading inside.

She looked to Sam, who still wore a frown.

"If you hate me so fucking much that you can't even pretend to be indifferent, then why the hell are you here?" Hadley asked Sam.

Sam met her eyes directly, "Someone had to make sure you wouldn't get Danny drunk again."

Hadley rolled her eyes, "I didn't force a tube down his throat. He's a big boy. If he wants to have a drink, he can have a fucking drink. You aren't his mother."

"Far from it," Sam replied, remembering the night before.

"What's that supposed to mean," Hadley asked, raising a brow.

"Oh nothing," Sam replied, looking off to the lake. "It's just that you're no longer the only one he's taken to bed."

"'Taken to bed'?" Hadley asked. "Oh, you mean you guys fucked."

Sam pinched her face at Hadley's bluntness. "I wouldn't call it that."

"What then?" Hadley egged her on. "Dirty up the sheets? Horizontal tango? Hide-the-sausage?"

"Stop it," Sam was bright red. "That's not it."

Hadley raised her eyebrows expectantly.

"We made love," Sam answered. "He came to _me_ last night. And he didn't need alcohol to do it."

"Well congratu-fuckin'-lations," Hadley replied. "A horny teenage male came to you at night for sex. Did he cuddle you afterwards, too? Maybe make you some toast in the morning in hopes of doing it again in the future?"

Sam's smugness dissolved into irritation, "No need to be bitter, _Hads._ "

"Bitter?" Hadley remarked. "Sweetheart, he was a one-night-stand. I had to teach him where to put his dick, and you're calling _me_ bitter? You should thank me."

"Why should I thank you?" Sam crossed her arms, "For taking his virginity?"

"Virginity is just a concept someone invented before they realized what sex was really about," Hadley answered. "But no. You should thank me if he actually stuck it in the right hole on the first try."

Sam gawked for a moment, "Did you also teach him to be gentle? Or were you just mindless, drunk animals?"

Hadley rolled her eyes and turned back to her gun, "I bet he was your first, huh?"

Sam blushed.

"That's a yes," she laughed, like she was talking to a child. "And it was still good? No pain?"

"It was perfect," Sam defended. "Everything about it was perfect. His skin was a little cold, but it was perfect."

Hadley paused, then looked at Sam, "Was he Phantom?"

"No," she answered.

Hadley looked confused. "How cold?"

Sam looked to the side, trying to remember, "Like he had been outside when it was cold."

A worried expression crossed her face, "And he was human the whole time?"

"Up until he left," Sam answered, feeling satisfied that she had a reaction out of Hadley. "He has surprisingly sharp teeth though." She pulled the collar of her shirt down, exposing a humanistic bite mark over her heart on the upper swell of her left breast.

Hadley's expression didn't falter, so Sam kept going.

"He really wore me out. I'm still tired from it." That part was true. She was drained. Happy, but exhausted.

"Did he leave any other marks on you?" Hadley asked.

Sam touched the spot just below the bone behind her ear, "Maybe."

Hadley rushed over and jerked Sam's head to the side, pushing the dark hair back. Sam clawed at Hadley until she was released.

"What the hell?" she shrieked.

"A hickey? Behind your ear?!," Hadley said.

"You nearly broke my neck, you crazy bitch!" she hissed.

"Get over yourself," Hadley snapped. "If I really wanted to kill you, I wouldn't have snapped your neck."

"Why? Too cliché?" Sam hissed.

"To quick," Hadley sneered.

"What's going on out here?" Danny came rushing out, seeing the two girls standing toe-to-toe.

"Nothing," Hadley hissed. "I've decided to hang around for a while. Gothica here doesn't like that idea."

"You're staying?" Danny asked, happiness leaking through. "What changed your mind?"

Hadley kept her cold blue eyes directed at Sam, "Nothing in particular."


	14. It's a Demon, Not a Ghost

**Chapter Fourteen**

Hadley waited on Sam's roof that night. If she was right about this, it needed to be taken care of immediately. If she was wrong, she could leave in peace. God, she hoped she was wrong.

She heard Sam open her bedroom window before slipping into bed and switching off the lamp. She was expecting a visitor.

Hadley waited quite a while without any activity. This was the main thing that she hated about her chosen lifestyle. Patience never really came easy to her. She wanted to go out and get the job done. But not everything she hunted could be tracked. Some vanished into thin air during the day. This particular hunch was one such creature.

The cool air stirred around her. Summer was approaching, and it kept the temperature fairly warm. This made it easy to tell when a ghost or spirit-like creature was near, without causing perspiration. Though Hadley didn't get goosebumps when she was in this form, she still felt the chill that would announce one. She half-expected Danny to drop by, but wasn't completely surprised when he didn't. It was probably better that he didn't see her right now. She wasn't very recognizable.

She finally saw a shadow figure float into the open window at about one. The familiar sensation in her gut told her that her suspicions were correct.

Sam was in danger, and she wasn't even aware that she had welcomed it.

…

The next day was the weekend, and Danny slept in, content with the previous night. It had to be a dream. But it was so real, so perfect.

Hadley had shown up at his window around one or two. Her skin was chilly from the night air, but there was a fire in her. She didn't bother to announce herself. She stripped off her jacket and boots, then slid in bed beside Danny. He'd accepted her urgent kisses without a second thought, and undressed her without making a conscious decision. She didn't make a sound, and it didn't occur to Danny to dwell on it.

She'd kissed him sweetly with a devilish look in her eyes before she left. Danny drifted off to sleep right after her shadow disappeared through the window. When he woke, he wondered if she was just cashing in a belated celebration after killing the vampire, or if she'd started to admit to herself that Danny meant something to her. It certainly felt more sensual than the last time. And she didn't taste like whiskey.

A pounding on his window startled him out of his half-conscious thoughts, and he sat up to locate the knocking.

"Hadley?" he rubbed his eyes.

"Open up," she called urgently through the glass.

Had the window been closed? He didn't remember her shutting it when she left.

He flipped the lock and opened the window, letting a coffee-scented Hadley inside.

"Good morning," he greeted sleepily.

Hadley's eyes traveled down, "It certainly is, lumberjack."

It took him a moment to get the reference. When he did, he blushed and reached for some jeans to cover his boxer briefs.

"What's up?" he asked, in a good mood.

"I know why Sam has been acting weird," she said in a low voice.

"Is she possessed?" he joked.

"No," Hadley answered. "But there is a demon involved."

"A demon?" Danny asked. "What kind?"

"A bad one, Danny. It'll kill her in a matter of days if she keeps letting it in."

"Why would Sam willingly allow a demon anywhere near her?" Danny sounded doubtful, running his hand through his matted hair.

"Because she doesn't know it's a demon," Hadley replied. "It disguises itself to her."

"So she doesn't know it's a demon because she thinks…"

"She thinks it's you," Hadley finished, pushing her braid over her shoulder.

"So it's like a Morpho?"

"No, no," Hadley shook her head, her eyes cold. "It's a _demon_ , Danny. Not a ghost."

"What does it want with Sam?" Danny questioned.

"It's not a creature of specific tastes," Hadley said. "Sam's just lucky. Unfortunately, she won't believe me when I warn her because she thinks I want you all to myself or some juvenile bullshit like that."

Danny rubbed his face, trying to shake free of his sleepiness, "She thinks you're trying to get in between me and her but it's not even me?"

"You catch on quick," Hadley remarked sarcastically. "Look, in a few more nights, Sam's body won't be able to recover anymore. She'll _die_ , Danny. We have to kill this thing."

"How do we kill it?" Danny scratched his head, further messing up his hair. "You still haven't even told me what it's called."

"Only I can do it. And it can't really die, it just goes back to hell or wherever Demons are from," Hadley answered.

"How do you know it goes there if you don't even know where 'there' is?" he asked.

"Because I've fought it before," she replied brows low. "They always find their way back, but I never let them hang around long enough to tell me where they go."

"So how do _you_ kill it," he asked.

Hadley sorted through her words carefully. Was she really going to tell Danny her secret? He'd trusted her with his own, but only one other soul knew hers. Not even the Hunters she'd befriended knew what she was.

"I have my ways," she finally replied. "I just need your help convincing Sam. I need you to keep her safe until it's taken care of. She'll be hurt, and definitely scared, but it doesn't matter as long as she's _safe_."

"Hadley," Danny took her by the shoulders, forcing her to stop the pacing she hadn't been aware of.

"What?"

"That's all great and everything," Danny said, "But you haven't told me what it is. That's kind of important. Then I want to talk to you about last night."

The busied, anxious expression on Hadley's face disappeared and confusion took up residence beneath the three jagged scars, "Last night?"

Danny released her shoulders, "You could've told me the celebrating thing was after every job was done. I was totally on board."

"I didn't celebrate last night," Hadley replied.

"That wasn't because of the vampire job?" Danny asked, a hint of hopefulness glinted in his ocean-blue eyes.

"What?" Hadley's brows pinched together beneath her dark bangs. "Danny, what the hell are you talking about?"

"Was I that bad?" he looked offended.

"What exactly do you think happened last night?"

"You showed up at my window," Danny answered, looking a little hurt.

Hadley's confusion faded, leaving no readable expression on her face.

"You just crawled into bed next to me. It wasn't like last time at all. Only once, then you kissed me and left," he said. "You didn't even smell like whiskey."

"What time do you think you saw me at the window?" Hadley asked without emotion.

"I don't know. One or two?"

" _Fuck._ " Hadley whirled around and slammed a fist on Danny's desk.

"What?"

Hadley turned and jerked his head to the side. Right below the bone behind his ear was what any ordinary person would consider a hickey. Hadley knew better. She could recognize the pattern.

"That wasn't me, Danny," Hadley released his head. "It was the same demon that is messing with Sam. Well, the same type. This one is the female."

"What?" Danny touched the mark behind his ear. "What is it?"

"There are many names for them," Hadley replied. "There are two. A male and female. In lore, they're anywhere from manifestations of the same demon, to allied demons. Nothing is concrete. They call each other Lilu and Lilitu."

"Lilu and Lilitu?" Danny raised a brow. "English, Hads."

"An Incubus and a Succubus," she answered. "Ancient night demons who seduce humans in their sleep. Luckily, it's them and not their relatives."

"Relatives?" Danny was starting to think that maybe he needed to take notes.

"Irdu lili and Adrat lili," she answered. "They are the ones that actually use humans to produce offspring. That's where fiction got the idea for beautiful but deadly demons. Their offspring were inhumanly beautiful."

"How do you know it isn't them?" Danny asked.

"Because they don't return to the same human multiple times, and Sam's has seen her twice," Hadley answered. "And you're awake when they attack. You were asleep when you met yours."

"I felt awake," Danny said.

"The mark behind your ear is how it latches onto you. That's how they get into your head. The rest is staged to make you think it's real so you allow it," Hadley replied.

"How do we get rid of it?"

"Turn it away. That will make it mad. When it loses control of you, you'll wake up," Hadley answered. "I'll take care of the rest. You're job now is to convince Sam."

"Oh, sure. Give me the difficult part," Danny grumbled.


	15. Sleep Paralysis

**Chapter Fifteen**

Sam wasn't easily convinced when the three teens met at her house later that morning. In fact, she was furious. Had she not have been so tired, she probably would've been throwing things. Danny and Tucker both noticed her exhaustion upon entering her room. Her already fair skin was a sickly pale, and dark circles were forming beneath the once-bright amethyst eyes. Sam looked like hell, and she refused to acknowledge why.

"I can't believe you, Danny," she continued. "If you didn't want to be with me, you could've just said so. Making up the lie about the Incubus is just ridiculous. Then on top of that, you're bringing that mutilated murderer into this! Are you _trying_ to hurt me?"

"Sam, I wouldn't do that," Danny reasoned. "Just at least _listen_ to me. This thing is dangerous. It's literally killing you. Did you really think you'd caught a cold in the beginning of summer?"

"A cold has nothing to do with the temperature, Danny," Sam snapped.

"Danny's right, Sam," Tucker interjected. "You know him, think about it. Would he be the type to do this?"

"Was he the type to get drunk in a bar full of murdering strangers then have a one night stand with that scar-faced bitch?" she retorted.

Danny was losing his cool, "For fuck's sake, Sam! When will you let that go? I'm my own person! If I want to fuck every girl in Amity Park, and drink every bottle of whiskey from here to California, that's my decision and mine alone!"

"I wouldn't be your friend if I let you through away your life for someone who wouldn't give a mouthful of spit for you!" Sam yelled back. "Hadley is scum, Danny. Murderous, lying, disfigured _trash_!"

"Don't talk about Hadley like that!" he shouted, almost growling. "She's not a model citizen, but, dammit, she's making a difference in this world. That's more than you can say with your stupid diet and animal rights protests!"

"I'm not out killing _anything_ ," she snapped. "Not even for food. Hadley is claiming the lives of creatures that have every right to live in this world. Who's to say these creatures can't live here? Who's to tell us that we can?"

"These things are not of this world," Danny grit his teeth together in frustration. It was like talking to a brick wall. "That demon that's killing you in your sleep is literally escaping from hell to do this to people."

"What about Ghosts?" Sam asked, fighting with every ounce of energy left in her tired body. "They were once people. Would she kill them too?"

"You can't kill a ghost. You can only break its contact with this dimension," Danny retorted. "Either way, you've got a lot to say for someone who sits in her room while other people fight the creatures that are plaguing the town."

"Both of you, shut up!" Tucker broke in. "I can't take this anymore! You've been best friends for most of your lives, but now you're both being morons! Sam, we are trying to _help_ you. Hadley hates you as much as you hate her, yet she's putting that aside to do her job and _save your life_. Danny, if Sam doesn't want to believe what you're telling her, she doesn't have to. It's her neck she's leaving out there, not yours. You can only care about her so much before you're wasting energy."

Danny just left, still boiling. Sam sat with her arms crossed, receding into the fluffy pillows on her bed.

"You don't want to believe him because it's easier to be angry at him than it is to be hurt," Tucker said to her gently. "But is saving face a better option than saving your life?"

Sam worked her jaw in frustration, but it was obvious his words had gotten past her thick skull.

"What do you suggest I do, then? Wait for the cavalry to arrive?" she hissed through her teeth.

"Just don't let that demon trick you. When it comes back tonight, don't let it seduce you," he said. "Don't try to convince yourself that Danny's apologizing, because he's not. If he was, it would be daylight, and he would talk to you."

Sam tucked back into her pillows more, still angry.

"If you won't do it for you, then do it for everyone who would miss you if you left," Tucker huffed, tired of her pouting.

"Maybe I won't. That would make it easier for Danny and that killer to be together," she grumbled.

Tucker groaned in frustration, "If you're really that self-absorbed as to think so little of this situation, then I say maybe you _should_ let that Incubus in! Let it drain you until there's nothing but a hallow shell left, then we'll see you roaming the Ghost Zone babbling on about how cruel life was to you!"

He stomped out, leaving a shocked Sam open-mouthed and staring after him.

…

Sam let Hadley in the window later that night. The sky was moonless, exposing stars nestled in the velvety blue-black sky. A cool breeze lifted the curtains as Hadley situated herself in a chair on the opposite wall of the bed.

"Where's Danny?" Sam asked, breaking the heavy silence that weighed on them.

"His house," Hadley replied shortly.

"Not here to accompany you on your quest to kill me in my sleep?"

"No, when I plan to kill someone, I do it without their friends as witness," Hadley retorted. "He has his own demon to take care of."

"He has an Incubus too?" Sam asked.

"Succubus," Hadley corrected. "Incubus is male, Succubus is female. Danny desires women, therefore, he's targeted by the female demon."

Sam didn't want to know who the Succubus manifested as when it seduced Danny.

Sam noticed when Hadley sat in her chair that she was unusually under-armed. A single knife and her favorite pistol were placed on the desk behind her. She wore a thick wrapping around her chest that looped once over a shoulder and faded denim cutoffs. She took off her black sneakers and set them under the desk. Sam was too tired to make a crack at her outfit, and Hadley didn't give a shit what Sam thought of her.

"Go to sleep, just as you have been," Hadley instructed. "When you think you see Danny coming through your window, look for me. If you don't see me sitting here, or the chair moved at all, you'll know it's the Incubus."

"What do I do then?" Sam asked.

Hadley crossed her arms, "Don't let it kiss you."

…

Sam had trouble drifting off to sleep. She was easily tired enough, but her anticipation kept her alert. Her eyelids were impossibly heavy, but every noise startled her. The breeze in the trees outside, the crickets, a car alarm going off in the distance…everything was amplified by her fear.

Hadley's skin itched with anticipation. The transformation tingled in her muscles, coiled and ready to burst free at a moment's notice. That's why she was dressed this way. The more room she allowed herself, the less likely she was to ruin something. She just hoped she could spare Sam's creepily-decorated lair of any collateral damage.

Sam's breathing finally slowed and evened out. Hadley could feel the anxiety like a beacon coming off of her. Not that Hadley blamed Sam for being scared; having a demon take hold of your mind was never something any sane person would tolerate.

Hadley remained still for a while, trying not to watch the clock. Night demons were most active between midnight and dawn, in Hadley's experience. It was nearly midnight already, but nothing in Hadley's keen senses told her it was near.

Hadley's mind slipped to thoughts of Danny. Hopefully, he could deter the Succubus until this job was done. Hadley could fight it tomorrow night. They would be trapped for a little while, until a passage was opened between the dimensions. She just hoped he was strong-willed enough to resist the temptation that males in any species were known for freely indulging.

Hadley noticed then that the crickets had silenced. A fluttering anxiety in her gut confirmed her suspicion, and she took extra care to remain as silent as possible.

From her place in the dark corner of Sam's room, Hadley watched the shadow figure set foot on the dark hardwood floor. It was inhuman in form, walking hunched over in a four-legged hobble. Horns grew from its forehead, coming out and rounding back over the top of its head. It didn't seem to notice Hadley as it crawled across the floor, elbows and knees bent at unnatural angles and head tilted to the side.

Hadley remained still, waiting. The creature stood by Sam's sleeping form, its face becoming visible. It had a nose that looked as if it was forced back into its face, wrinkling a little between its eyes. It had no lips, but exposed narrow, elongated, black teeth. They were so long that it couldn't fully close its mouth, and it had empty holes for eyes, with floating irises like a snake's that glowed a dim red.

Hadley watched in horror as a crimson tongue hissed from its teeth, latching onto a spot behind Sam's ear, leaving a mark, then lifting an arm to pull the covers down. Even after seeing it at work all those times before, it seemed to be one of those sights she just could never be calloused to. It took only a few seconds for the sleep-paralysis-inducing venom to calm Sam's tense position. The Incubus's tongue flicked into Sam's ear, and the creature made animalistic groaning and hissing noises, signaling that it had begun to feed.

Hadley knew that it was occupied enough for her to begin her advance. She stood, careful to not give herself away. Her muscles silently obeyed her will to change forms, and she contained her cries of pain that accompanied her shift. Her bones ached and her muscles pulled to their limits as she crept across the floor. Her skin stretched and itched until it settled into place. The pads behind her toes sank into the lavish crimson rug as she neared, and Hadley stretched her elongated fingers, eager to grab the feeding parasite.

She had to wait. Sam had to turn it away before Hadley could grab it, otherwise Sam could slip into a coma. Hadley had heard horror stories from the other Hunters that an Incubus or Succubus could do that as a last resort. If Sam went into a coma, it was almost certain she wouldn't wake up.

 _Come on, Sam. The longer you let it in, the more it weakens you,_ Hadley thought. _Kick it out._


	16. The Nightmare

**Chapter Sixteen**

Sam sat up in her bed, watching a pair of ocean blue eyes nearing her.

"You came," she managed, trying to sound normal. She didn't know why she bothered trying to talk to it. It never talked back.

Her nervousness picked at her, all instincts screaming to run, or wake up. But Sam wasn't sure she wanted to see what this demon looked like without the disguise is wore in her dreams.

"I always do," a voice responded. It didn't belong to Danny at all, but he never spoke during his night visits.

Those blue eyes Sam adored shifted suddenly, becoming a dimly glowing red with thin slits for pupils.

Sam's gut dropped. "You're not Danny."

"Of course not," the lookalike replied. "But you already knew that."

It walked around the room, appearing to look at the things Sam decorated with.

"What are you doing?" Sam managed through her panic.

"I'm stalling," it replied casually in a cracked voice. "As soon as you figure out how to rid your conscious of my control, your littlefriend will be at my throat."

It walked over to the chair and waved its hand. Hadley's shape appeared, sitting still as a statue with her cold eyes locked on the window.

"She's quite skilled," the demon said. "I didn't notice her until I injected you with venom."

"If you noticed her then, why did you stay?" Sam stalled, trying to think.

"If I would have run, she would have caught me," it replied. "Here, she can't rip me from you without consequence."

That caught Sam's attention, "What do you mean?"

The demon laughed. It was a comical little cackle, high in pitch and bubbly. "Eternal sleep."

Sam's eyes widened in fear.

The demon walked closer to her, "Right at this very moment, I am physically attached to your brain through a self-made canal in your ear." It tapped Danny's replicated temple. "If she were to rip me away, the venom I injected in that bite your friend  
/found, the concentration would completely shut down your ability to move and speak. You would be in a permanent state of dreaming, never to recover."

Sam couldn't think of anything to say. She looked around for help with how to rid herself of him. There were books on the shelf, but they were void of titles. Her pictures contained nothing but a grey background, and there was nothing but void outside  
/her windows. How did she not notice the differences before? Looking around now, it was obvious that this place wasn't real.

Sam looked at the apparition of Hadley that the demon, still disguised as Danny, was toying with. Sam was almost pleading for Hadley's help, despite her deep, _deep_ , distaste for her.

That's when she noticed that Hadley's right arm didn't have its sleeve of black ink. The ink on the back of her neck was gone too. Only her scars remained.

"That can't be right," Sam whispered to herself.

"It's not," the demon spoke from behind her.

Sam jumped and turned around just as the fake Danny disappeared in twists of black smoke.

"Your friend isn't what she says she is," it whispered in her ear.

Sam swatted the air beside her, connecting with nothing.

"She's not my friend," Sam hissed.

"Of course not," the demon cackled in a cracked voice. "She stole your precious Danny."

Sam couldn't see him. She was beginning to panic. Just as she would think she saw the black smoke, it would disappear. She was turning around and jerking her head frantically to keep up with it.

"That _murderer_ stole his innocence," the demon quoted her thoughts directly, making a show that he was inside her head. "She took advantage of his naiveté."

Sam backed herself into the corner where the image of Hadley sat, still staring at the window. Sam looked out into the void, scrambling desperately to find a way out of this nightmare.

"Now you've trusted her to watch over you while you slept, and she let me crawl by without a peep," the voice came from across the room now. "She let this happen to you. She let a demon into your room to _feed_ on you. She just sat there quietly,  
/and the longer I'm here, the stronger I get. When I finally finish off what's left of you, you weak little vermin, I'll be too strong for her to defeat. She won't be able to capture me and send me back. Then my darling Lilitu will finish off your  
/precious Danny, and that _murderer_ won't be able to stop her either!"

Sam was on the floor now, fistfuls of her hair in her hands, flooded with fear. Panic attacked her in waves as she fought the voice of the creature to find a way out. She chanted 'wake up' to herself a hundred times while it spoke, but she remained trapped  
/in her own conscious.

A thought broke through her fear and the hoarse cackling of the demon.

 _This is_ my _mind,_ Sam thought. _I am in control._

That did little for her fear, but the panic ceased to a manageable level. She rose from the corner and stepped beside Hadley.

She visualized the fights she had watched while Hadley trained them. The image of her on the chair followed the images. It stood abruptly and jumped at Danny's form, tackling it to the ground. She took it off-guard, and managed to get in a few hits before  
/he disappeared into smoke.

"You can't beat me here!" it shouted. "This is _my domain_!"

Sam lit the room and cleared the furniture from the floor, eliminating his hiding spots.

"You're in _my_ head," she hissed back. "I'm in control."

The faux-Danny appeared behind Hadley's form and Sam whipped her vision around to detain him.

She stepped forward to the vile red eyes that bored into her from imaginary-Hadley's chokehold.

"Get out of my head," Sam hissed. "Get out of my room."

The Danny-form began to shift. It was becoming a beast with large horns and deathly black teeth. It screeched at her, making her cover her ears against the noise. The room shook around her as the terrible noise grew louder, amplified by her own screams.

style="text-align:center;"…

Like hitting the floor after a fall, Sam lurched back into consciousness screaming. The demon beside her retracted its tongue from her ear, just as was predicted.

Sam managed to heft herself up, despite parts of her body still being numb from sleep. She watched as two demonic creatures battled at the foot of her bed. The one from her dream was clawing and hissing at the other to get back at Sam. The other monster  
/wasn't like anything Sam had seen recently. It had giant wings and fangs that gleamed in the dim light from the streetlamp outside. Horns that weren't as long as the Incubus's came out from its head and waved back, similar to a gazelle's, but

thicker.

The winged monster forced the Incubus out the window and into the night, leaving Sam tearstained and shaking with fear. She looked around the room, watery eyes scanning the tipped furniture and scattered books. She was alone.

"Hadley?"


	17. The Demon and the Beast

**Chapter Seventeen**

Lilu screeched at Hadley through his teeth. Hadley bared her fangs in return, chasing the demon through the streets of the sleeping city. She flapped her massive wings, pushing the rushing air past her. The wind whipped the stray strands of her dark hair about her stone-skinned face. The sleeve on her arm became a raised carving and glowed orange as it reached for the tail of the demon.

Lilu twisted and dodged through the air, trying to lose Hadley by making a route she couldn't follow, but Hadley had trained for this very moment. Her wings spanned widely to accommodate her weight, but were able to collapse completely to her. She kept close to Lilu, dodging signs and streetlights at the last second and pushing forward off of building with her bare feet.

Lilu took to the night sky, cackling at Hadley's efforts.

"What will you do, Huntress?" he mocked. "Send me back? I'll only escape again in a few of your years. You'll never be rid of me forever!"

"Maybe not," Hadley steadied herself on a current of air. "But they will be rid of you now."

"And you," he hissed. "Once you've captured us, you'll leave behind this troubled city, and your _precious_ Danny Phantom."

Hadley growled in annoyance, "There's a reason nobody want's your company when you talk, and it's not you're horrible voice."

Lilu cackled hoarsely, "Sticks and stones, dear Monster. You're throwing them freely, despite your fragile domain."

"I choose to live like this," Hadley snapped.

"Fear of rejection is powerful, is it not?" Lilu replied. "Once your sorcerer was gone, who could love a beast such as you?"

Hadley frowned, "Not everyone is fortunate enough to have a population of the same species. Lucky for me, neither do you."

Lilu clicked his tongue, "Unfortunately, you're right. There is only one other such as me. If only I could scour the globe in search of more and come up successful. You know not of your privilege, Monster."

"What are you talking about?" Hadley hissed.

"You didn't really think that imbecile of a White Wizard created a new species entirely, did you?" Lilu laughed as if he was talking to a naïve child.

"What makes you think your word on this means anything to me?" Hadley growled.

"If you don't believe me, it makes no difference," Lilu answered maliciously. "But I know the curiosity will consume you sooner or later."

"I've had enough of your voice, you creepy little fuckstick," Hadley growled. "I'm sure your friends in Hell miss you anyways."

Lilu jerked his head to the side and made an animalistic cry.

Hadley looked down. A black figure was speeding toward them, dodging blasts of a vibrant green.

"Son of a bitch," Hadley swore.

She dove for Lilu before he could aid the other demon. She caught him by the horn and sunk her teeth into his shoulder.

A wail erupted from the demon as he began to evaporate into smoke. The other demon, Lilitu, watched in horror as a winged monster was pulling a black cloud of smoke into it. The cloud of smoke had been her mate, her Lilu. She took off toward the monster, seething in rage. Her claws outstretched and her screeches echoing into the night, she collided with it just as the last of the smoke had disappeared into the mouth of the beast.

They fell out of the sky. Lilitu was clawing at the stone creature's face as it fought to right itself and slow their descent. She had forgotten her original attacker, but he had been too overwhelmed to follow.

They hit the ground hard, breaking branches and creating a crater in a clearing. Lilitu stood over the monster, hissing with the toll of the fall.

She recognized this monster. It had defeated her and Lilu before. The three scars on its face gave it away.

Lilitu shifted forms, full of power from her latest hunt. Long red hair fell down her back and crimson eyes blazed against porcelain skin. Ruby red lips parted in a wicked hiss, she pulled the monster up by the long, dark braid at the back of its head.

It gasped with the pain, baring its four sharp canines.

"You've captured us before, monster," Lilitu hissed into the beast's stone face. "But my Lilu will return. And when he does, we will _tear you to pieces_."

Hadley laughed, "You can try, bitch."

"Then again," the redheaded demon wrinkled her nose in disgust, "What's stopping me from reducing you to a pile of gravel right now?"

Hadley met her crimson stare with cold blue eyes, "Your sunny disposition?"

A green blast hit Lilitu before she could respond. Hadley dropped to the ground, rubbing the back of her head that was sore from the she-demon's pulling.

Hadley felt the chill of a stare on her back, but she didn't dare turn. Instead, she stood and stretched her wings out. They were definitely sore, but they worked. With a leap and the force of her wings, she took to the sky, following the shadowed form of Lilitu.

A chill up her spine told her Danny had followed. She just hoped he was more interested in the demon at this moment.

Hadley threw her right arm forward, watching the orange glow intensify. From her palm came a ball of fire that shot out toward the fleeing demon. It collided with her in a burst of bright light, shocking her long enough for Hadley to get closer.

Just before Hadley reached Lilitu to capture her as she had captured Lilu, a blast of green hit the demon. It collided and expanded outward in a black ring like a nuclear blast, and Hadley could hear the screaming of the demon as it evaporated into smoke. She was shouting in an ancient language about vengeance, but stopped mid-syllable as the last of her body disintegrated.

Hadley's wings angled, dropping her down swiftly. She aimed again for the clearing, out of sight of any buildings. With a few pumps of her giant wings, she set foot in the patches of grass. The stone armor of her skin faded away, leaving a light gray flesh in its place. Her clawed toes flexed in the grass as she stood waiting for the inevitable encounter with Danny.

A tingle in her spine announced him as his landing in the grass made little noise over the crickets.

Danny looked at the creature before him, unsure. Large wings like a bat's grew from its back, a single dark braid falling between them. A light gray tail rested in the grass by two large feet, propped up on the toes with a single clawed toe on the raised heel. The legs and torso were larger, but still very human. A raised marking sleeved the right arm, from the shoulder to the short, clawed fingers. The face was fairly human, with larger eyes and a forehead hidden by dark bangs. Pointed ears poked out from the dark hair, and above them sat thick, twisting horns, akin to those of a gazelle. The cold blue eyes and jagged scars across its cheek gave away its identity.

"Hadley?"

Hadley gave a worn smile, exposing two pairs of sharp canines on the top and bottom jaw, "Hey, Danny."


	18. Nice To Have Met You

**Chapter Eighteen**

Hadley couldn't read Danny's face. It wasn't a describable expression that he wore, but Hadley was too tired to wait for his lecture on honesty.

"Thanks for your help with Lilitu," she sighed. "Get on home. Sam's going to want some sort of explanation as soon as she wakes up."

Danny watched as Hadley turned away. He rushed to gather his thoughts before she took off again. He doubted that he could keep up with her wings.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he managed, making her stop in her tracks.

For a moment, all that could be heard was the breeze through the trees and the song of the crickets. Hadley turned back around.

"It wasn't any of your business," she replied simply.

"Why not?" Danny didn't give in to Hadley's barricaded nature anymore. "Who would better understand this than me?"

Hadley's emotions never really worked right. She should've felt relief that he hadn't run at the sight of her like this the way others did. He didn't shoot at her, didn't stare open-mouthed, didn't scream. But Hadley just felt anger. That's what she always felt. It was easier. It kept her alive.

"Do I look like someone who needs understanding?" Hadley fired back. "Do I have a sign around my neck that says 'save me'? Did you really just take one look at me and assume that because I look like this, I'm somehow wounded?"

Danny was shocked. Had he said something to upset her? "Hadley, I didn't mean—"

"No, you didn't _think_ ," Hadley snapped. "I _chose_ this. These wings, this tail…everything. Don't look at me like you look at yourself. I'm a goddamn hero because of this. I save people's lives because of what I am and what I do. I don't cross a mirror and see an abomination the way you do."

"That's not fair," Danny yelled back at her, hurt. "I didn't chose this for myself!" He gestured to his ghostly form. "I just wanted to not get picked on at school. I wanted normal parents; I wanted to date and get into trouble and ace my classes. I wanted to be an astronaut! I didn't want _this_."

"Are you really that fucking stupid as to think that you've given up all of that?" her voice dropped low. "You're half normal! You could still do all that stupid bullshit that you've dreamed about. You can still have a life! There's people who are far worse off than a half-ghost teenager. Quit feeling sorry for yourself!"

"Sorry? You think that's how I feel?" Danny was getting closer now. "My family doesn't even know about me! They hunt down ghosts! Can you imagine being shot at and dissected by your own parents? I've come close!"

"No, Danny, I can't," Hadley snapped. "Mine have been dead for a decade and a half. I watched them being dissected by _my own five-year-old hands_. I see it behind my eyelids when I got to sleep every night. It replays in my head like a broken record, and I can't ever get away from it. I have nobody left in this world and it's _my_ fault. Can you imagine _that_ , you self-centered bastard?!"

They were face-to-face now, exactly the same height. Cold blue eyes bore into glowing emerald ones. Neither willing to back down, both hiding behind anger and avoiding the hurt.

Despite her best efforts, Hadley's eyes began to glisten. She tore her gaze away and shook her head. "Go home, Danny. Go back to your family, your friends. Go back to Sam and Tucker. Go back to protecting this hellhole of a city."

She turned around before Danny could fight her. She stretched out her wings, and Danny felt the rush of air as she took off into the night sky.

He was as angry as she was. She infuriated him. Why couldn't she just say she was hurt? Or afraid? Or lonely? Damn her and her pride!

And her _secrecy_! He thought that, if she was to tell anyone, it would've been him. If for nothing other than to share _something_ with him, she should've mentioned it. 'Hey, by the way, I'm a bat-type-reptile thing that shoots fire.' _Something._

Danny kicked angrily at the grass. He wouldn't be able to sleep if he went home, that much was obvious. Dawn was only an hour or so away, and, even though she wasn't a morning person, Sam would have questions as soon as her eyes popped open. Hadley would be there. She was under obligation of her word to do so. Danny was afraid if he didn't see her there, she'd skip town without saying goodbye. For reasons he couldn't think about, he couldn't allow that.

…

Hadley sat in the chair in the corner of Sam's room at sunrise, showered and dressed, no longer winged. Sam was waking up slowly, memories slowly returning to her.

"Hadley?" her hoarse voice was quiet in the dim room.

Hadley remained shadowed from the rays of dawn flooding through the open window she'd entered.

"Morning," she replied quietly.

Sam sat up, hair mussed and suddenly alert. "What happened to you last night? When I woke up, there were _two_ demons in my room! Where were you?"

Hadley prepared a story. "The other one wasn't a demon, it was good. When the Incubus detached from you, it hit me and I fell out the window. The other creature came to help me. It took care of the Incubus and the Succubus, I made sure of that."

"Oh," Sam felt a little silly now. She'd assumed the worst.

"You probably thought I left you for dead," Hadley joked.

"What?" Sam laughed nervously, "No, of course not."

"I would've, but I promised Danny," Hadley replied, void of expression.

"Where is Danny?" Sam asked, twisting the sheets in her hands.

"Asleep, I'd imagine," Hadley replied. "He should be over soon to check in on you."

Sam picked up on Hadley's unspoken plans, "You're not going to wait around for him, are you?"

Hadley shook her head, "I'm not one for goodbyes."

"That's it?" Sam asked, expectant. "You're just going to pack up and go? After spending all that time with him and making him feel things for you, that's _it_?"

Hadley didn't want to hear this anymore, "What do you want from me? I told him that I was going to leave when the job was done. I told him I only stayed because of the Vampire, then the Incubus and Succubus. When the job is done, so am I. That's how it's _always_ been. If I stick around too long, people start to recognize me. They start to get used to me. I can't live like that."

"You can't have with people knowing you?" Sam spat. "With people you _care_ about?"

"The moment I start caring about people, I have a weakness. Hunters can't have weaknesses. That's how people die," Hadley hissed.

"Only someone as pigheaded as you would consider caring about someone to be a weakness," Sam snapped.

Hadley stood from the chair, "I've done what I came here for. Have a nice life, Spawn."

Before she jumped out of the window, she heard Sam's voice, "Tell him goodbye, you brick-headed psychopath, or he'll find you."

Hadley leapt out into the cool morning air and walked across the street to an alley. It lead back to the woods, and she could find her way back to the shack in minutes. Walking did her some good. She knew she'd be driving for a while, and wanted to soak up as much of the humid air and the crickets' song as possible.

When she did make it back to her Blazer, a familiar head of black hair was waiting for her. She sighed and continued forward.

"I was afraid I'd miss you," Danny said softly as Hadley stripped off her sweatshirt and threw it in the Blazer.

"I hoped you would," she grumbled in response.

"I don't want you to go," Danny whispered.

"That's why I hoped to miss you," Hadley snapped.

"Why is it so bad that I care about you?" Danny stood in her way now, blocking her escape. "What could possibly be so horrible about staying here?"

"I can't, we've been over this." Hadley met his eyes directly. "I have other jobs to do."

"You'll have more here if you wait, I guarantee it," he replied, unfazed. "What's the real reason?"

Hadley crossed her arms, "I don't want to stay here, Danny. I don't belong here. I have a purpose in life, and I've accepted it. I can't just ignore it like you can."

It hurt to hear that, "You can't possibly believe that."

"Did you really think that because you know what I am, I'd stay with you?" She was angry now. If she didn't hurt him, he'd never let her leave. "How great of a tale. 'A half-ghost boy meets a girl that's also a freak. They fall in love and stay together forever.' Grow the fuck up."

The hurt Danny masked made something twinge in Hadley, but she knew she had to do this. She knew he wouldn't move on unless she crumbled him up and threw him away. He was too stubborn to give up the chase if he thought there was any feeling of sorrow inside of her.

"I have somewhere to be," Hadley continued. "So, as I said to you the night we met: Nice to have met you."

She climbed into the Blazer and slammed the door. The loud engine roared to life and she put the broken soul behind her, standing in the dust kicked up from her tires. His image in the rear-view mirror haunted her. His voice screaming as he threw rocks onto the trail she left behind burned into her eardrums.

"I'll find you, you cruel Bitch!" he screamed. "Run away, like you always do! I'll drag you back here! You know I will!"

A single tear slipped from Hadley's eye. She wiped it away in disgust and let anger take the wheel. Anger was easy when you killed things for a living. Hurt was never easy. Hadley didn't get hurt, not anymore. She repeated that to herself as she left Amity Park behind.

For good.


End file.
